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NO, NOT DEAD, 
THEY LIVE ! 




A Study oF Personal Irrvmorl-ality 

from the standpoint oP a Physician 

and Surgeon. 



Wicson G. Bailey md. 



3f tan 



Copyright. 1923 

BY 

Wilson G. Bailey, M.D. 




1. V. Huntzinger Co.. PubUshi rs 

CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY 



MM 19 '23 



CU705405 

"V V 



Dedication 

To my wife, 

Anna May Sachse Bailey, 

Beyond the Veil, 

Whose loving guidance has brought me 

into the light of spiritual knowledge and consolation, 

and has inspired, me to tell others of what 

I have learned through her ministry 



FOREWORD 

In writing a review of Doctor Bailey 's book, ' ' No, Not 
Dead; They Live," one is embarrassed by the range of 
the book and the vast quantity of material in it. Doctor 
Bailey takes the whole realm of nature in his search for 
evidence of the truth of Spiritualism ; nothing is too small 
or too great for him, and we must concede that he has 
told us some surprising facts about animate and inanimate 
nature, facts that are seldom encountered by the average 
layman. Moreover, his attitude is always reverent and 
he does not offer Spiritualism as a religion : He is content 
to present Spiritualism as a sanction for religion that 
cannot be gainsaid and must be heeded. 

The certainty of retribution for deeds done in this 
body of flesh is proved by Spiritualism, or rather by 
Spiritualistic phenomena coming to his notice, and it is- 
regrettable, in my humble judgment, that many critics 
of Spiritualism ignore this phase of the philosophy and 
belittle some of the revelations coming from the "other- 
side." If, as the Doctor argues, and I think proves, that 
we take over with us all our moral infirmities it is not 
strange that some of the manifestations show these human 
failings. Whether we believe in these manifestations we 
should, in common fairness, accept Dr. Bailey's position 
exactly as he states it and not as we, in our prejudice, 
would state it for him. Nothing is to be gained by misrep- 
resentation or injustice in this or any other field of 
controversy. If men had been, and were, the keepers of 
the truth — well, there would not be any "were" for we 
should not be here to tell the tale. 



FOREWORD 

The Doctor briefly passes over his struggle to get a 
professional education, and immediately plunges into his 
favorite, and professional topic, anatomy. He gives us a 
very interesting picture of the "man wonderful in the 
house beautiful." Failing to find the soul as a material 
faculty anywhere in the brain he takes up the question 
of consciousness and leads us through a mass of reasoning 
and fact that is not as heavy as it looks. It is interesting, 
and while the Doctor sometimes goes back in his argument 
he brings us out upon an eminence where we find ourselves 
in agreement with advanced science of the day, regardless 
of Spiritualistic manifestations. In another way of putting 
it, consciousness, soul and spirit are distinct from the body, 
and can exist without the body, although they are needed 
by the body on this earthly plane. This is not only 
scientific fact but it is also a cardinal tenet of Christianity 
and other religions. 

As a first, and easy, reading in psychology, I really 
think that some of the Doctor's chapters cannot be 
excelled. They are well written and lead one gradually, 
and almost imperceptibly, into such supernormal condi- 
tions as trance and hypnotism, and thence into mediumship 
and spirit communications. "Whether the Doctor proves his 
case for spirit manifestations the reader will judge when 
he has read the book. Those other persons that prejudge 
this book, and, as a rule, everything else, without examina- 
tion, will not be influenced, but, as they are a negligible 
quantity, except in their own estimation, the Doctor will 
not be concerned about them and will not get his prescrip- 
tions mixed to the detriment of his patients. 

The Doctor indulges in both poetry and oratory in 
his argument, and even if the reader does not accept all 

ii. 



FOREWORD 

his conclusions he will be inspired to better living and, if 
he is a believer in the Bible, may resolve to talk less about 
the Bible and spend a little time in actually reading it. 

Doctor Bailey has rendered real religion a great 
service in writing this book, and, for its inspiring and 
refining influence, if for nothing else, I hope it will be 
widely circulated. 

William H. Ketler, 
Camden, N. J. City Librarian. 



in. 



INTRODUCTION 

To add another to the many books on the subject of 
immortality may seem like an impertinence, perhaps a 
very great impertinence when coming from a layman, and 
yet I feel that I can justify the publication of this book. 

It is this very attitude on the part of many, concern- 
ing discussion of immortality, that, in my judgment, is 
depriving us of a vast amount of inspiration, and even of 
the consolation of knowing that somewhere, within God's 
providence, our departed ones still live, and under certain 
conditions can communicate with us. There is surely 
enough of the seemingly marvelous in modern psychic 
research, or scientific spiritualism, to warrant a reverent 
open-mindedness and an honest inquiry into all apparent 
visitations of the "dead" to those still in this earthly garb. 

In this book I have tried to set forth my progress from 
materialism to knowledge — yes, I emphasize the word 
KNOWLEDGE that, in the words of Longfellow, "There 
is no death, ' ' and that we may, if reverent and persistent, 
find our departed alive and conscious and waiting for us 
"beyond the veil." 

I ask for a careful reading and frank criticism of the 
experiences I have set forth in the following pages, and I 
would venture to remind the reader that we should at all 
times "Prove all things and hold fast to that which is 
good. ' ' We all agree that demonstration of life after death 
would be the greatest blessing ever visited upon mankind — 
that it would be nothing less than faith becoming sight. 
Reverently, prayerfully, let us remember, as Elias Hicks 
said, revelation has not ceased, that "There is more light 
yet to break from God's word." 

Wilson G. Bailey, M. D. 
Camden, N. J. 

v. 



CONTENTS 

Chapter I. — My boyhood ambitions, and struggles 
with poverty — A medical student at the age of fifteen — 
Poverty still my nemesis, but I win out although with the 
loss of much adipose tissue — My unsuccessful quest for 
the soul, and my emergence from materialism. 

Chapter II. — How, to remember anatomical terms 
and simplify the study of anatomy — The skeleton, or 
framework, compared with a building — The walls of the 
human building — The joints, muscles, nerves and blood 
vessels, making up a marvelous machine, both flexuous and 
flexible. 

Chapter III. — The liver, the kidneys, and other 
glands — A system of laboratories and reservoirs — Food 
as laboratory material, and the elimination of its waste 
through the large intestines, a sewage system — The heart, 
a great pump, and the blood vessels a system of conduits. 

Chapter IV. — The brain, or power house — The 
spinal cord, a trunk line of wires, or nerves — Exploded 
theories about the "seat of intelligence," or soul, in the 
brain — The brain not essential for physical life. 

Chapter V. — The five senses — How the sense organs 
work and are protected — Man is changing physically — 
Skeptics and foolish theologians cannot limit God 's design 
— It is not yet revealed what we shall be, physically and 
spiritually. 

Chapter VI. — How the life principle, or spirit, works in 
both animal and vegetable — Life begins as a simple 
cell — The cell as a charge of energy — It is elemental 
man and woman, or the home of sexless soul — How per- 
sonality affects the cell and determines sex at conception — 
Unseen and unfelt influences on the soul. 

vii. 



CONTENTS 

Chapter VII. — The human body a machine beside 
which all of man 's ingenious devices are child 's toys — 
Some comparisons with man-made machines — The human 
body alone an answer to atheism — All mechanical move- 
ments borrowed from the human body — How man 
maintains his equilibrium — The soul as distinct from the 
body as the bird from its cage. 

Chapter VIII. — My feeling that I must atone for my 
early skepticism — Materialism, by its own admissions, 
destroys itself — Mind must have preceded matter, and 
therefore, God is and reigns — No life without antecedent 
life — Sir Oliver Lodge 's fine summary of the argument 
for personal immortality. 

Chapter IX. — What is consciousness? — Where the 
soul stands on guard — Animals live after death, and 
why — How the spirit built the body — Unconscious intelli- 
gence and its wonderful performances — Nothing vile in 
nature, and morality a question of geography. 

Chapter X. — Yourself under a double aspect or as 
"soul and body" — Difference between soul and spirit — 
Why the soul is distinct from the body and can pass 
through solid matter — The soul a replica of the body — A 
soul within the soul — A soul must have sense organs in 
the next life — God's omnipotence, omniscience and 
omnipresence a stupendous thought, silencing all skep- 
ticism. 

Chapter XI. — The nature of matter — What is an 
electron, the base of all matter f — No inertia, or loss of 
matter, in nature — Progress is eternal, and perfection 
ever ahead of us — God, the only fourth dimensional 
being, to whom alone there is neither time nor space — 
Creation, a whirling mass of energy. 

viii. 



CONTENTS 

Chapter XII. — What is an idea ? — How the spirit 
sees the world — Thought and will — Why spirit com- 
munication is not always clear to us — The two kinds of 
mind, subliminal and transliminal — What and where is 
the life principle? 

Chapter XIII. — The brain as a switchboard for the 
spirit — Thought not the result of brain action or func- 
tion — Mental and spiritual waves more substantial than 
light and sound waves — Why spirits pass through our 
"solid" matter — The spirit world and our world co- 
existent, or interlace and intermesh. 

Chapter XIV. — My first knowledge of hypnotism — 
Hypnotism began in the Garden of Eden — The pioneer 
of hypnotism, and how he was hounded to death — Hyp- 
notism cannot be used for evil purposes — May be used 
upon oneself, as auto-suggestion. 

Chapter XV. — Animals, plants, and even water, may 
be magnetized — Telepathy, clairvoyance, transmission 
of sensations and of will power — How the hand may 
radiate magnetism — Side by side with the material world 
there is a psychical world — My own public demonstra- 
tions of hypnotism — My own experience in converting 
water into wine, and the raising of the so-called dead. 

Chapter XVI. — Table lifting possible only when a 
medium, known or unsuspected, is present — How a table 
"cornered" a skeptic — My challenge to other skeptics — 
Some marvelous manifestations — The fraudulent inves- 
tigation by the University of Pennsylvania. 

Chapter XVII. — Why spirit manifestations are often 
confined to darkness, or partial darkness — A famous 
medium 's manifestations in full light — Hypnotism and 

ix. 



CONTENTS 

modern science failed to account for him — A medium 's 
predictions verified to the letter. 

Chapter XVIII. — Trance, catalepsy and ecstasy de- 
fined ■ — Three sorts of trance — Transfiguration, mate- 
rialization and luminous appearances, during trance — 
The physical basis of trance explained — Deep trance 
necessary for the best manifestations. 

Chapter XIX. — Spiritualism the best guide to 
conduct, here and now — Evil character cannot be 
sloughed off at death — Evil spirits and their influence — 
How an evil spirit rejects the influence of good spirits 
and sinks lower and lower in contemplation of its earthly 
lusts — The unpardonable sin. 

Chapter XX. — The hanging of Harvey Church — 
His soul had withdrawn from his body, awaiting execution 
of the latter — Reduced himself to the state of vegetable 
intelligence — Two kinds of mind — Strange tales by 
present-day travelers. 

Chapter XXI. — Where the spirit goes at the death of 
the body — Spirit planes and spheres not to be con- 
founded — The ; ' Homeland ' ' or third probationary 
sphere — Food in the "Homeland" — A beautiful pros- 
pect. 

Chapter XXII. — Social life in the spirit land — 
Spirit guides here and there — Telepathy from the spirit 
world to us — Like seeks like over there — Where Christ 
dwells — Will earth's marriages be continued over there? 
— Our present state colors our views. 

Chapter XXIII. — Many religious sects, each claiming 
to have the whole truth, and yet not one offers proof of 
immortality — People demand knowledge, not faith — God 
reveals His truth to us as fast as we are able to receive it — 



CONTENTS 

Spiritualism not a sect, but the medium through, which 
we find actual evidence of immortality — Prayers for the 
departed — A clergyman on the narrowness of Bible 
readers. 

Chapter XXIV. — Spiritualism alone proves the truth 
of the Scriptures — Which is right, Roman Catholic doc- 
trine or recent church deliverances against Spiritualism? 

— The value of Spiritualism to the bereaved — Great 
magicians baffled by Spiritualistic mediums — Some trifling 
objections to mediums — Necessary conditions for Spir- 
itualistic manifestations — Wireless wonders dawning upon 
the world. 

Chapter XXV. — The average man's comment on 
Spiritualism — Spiritualism, the guide to conduct here 
and happiness hereafter — The evidence incontrovertible 

— God's purpose in creation — Spiritualism, an angel of 
light and hope — Spiritualism makes religion a substan- 
tial reality and not a mere credal form. 

Chapter XXVI. — Spiritualism is Christianity real- 
ized — Some ' ' Manias ' ' based upon Bible reading — 
Ethical Culturists and their self-complacency — People 
who want real religion but cannot find it — This earth life 
a school. 

Chapter XXVII. — Spiritualism the only rational 
agency for reforming mankind — If we humans had as 
much loyalty as dogs — Spiritualism puts religion upon a 
foundation of knowledge, not faith — Spiritualism, a 
religion for the individual — What if the churches should 
accept Spiritualism ? — Colonel Ingersoll 's approach to 
Spiritualism: "There is no death." 



XI. 



CHAPTER I 

My parents, Joseph B. and Amanda Wheeler, had 
twelve children, nine of whom are still living. I was born 
in Paulsboro, Gloucester County, New Jersey, where I had 
the usual experiences of the country town boy. I attended 
the Methodist Church and Sunday school, and the winter- 
time " protracted meetings" were full of interest to me 
and appealed to me so strongly that I resolved to enter 
the ministry as soon as I was old enough, and effect many 
conversions, just like the evangelists I had seen. My 
parents encouraged me in this desire although, unknown 
to me, they wondered where and how money for my 
training would be procured, if procured it could be, for 
they were poor. 

When I was ten years of age we went to Gloucester 
City to live and before I entered my 'teens I was obliged 
to go to work in a cotton mill, there to help out my father 
in providing for his large family. I continued to go to 
church and Sunday school, but my desire to become a 
minister was beginning to wane for I had heard little but 
doctrine and the "contradictions" in the Bible loomed 
large and larger in my youthful mind. I have often 
wondered since I reached manhood why the clergy do not 
lay more stress upon the spiritual and moral beauties in 
the Book and less upon man-made doctrines. I feel sure 
that such emphasizing of the spirit of the Book would 
dissolve many doubts and ultimately explain away the 
"contradictions" that now keep many conscientious men 
and women out of the church. 

My life in the working world, without the antidote of 
rational spiritual and ethical training in the church, had 
the effect such experience usually has on a boy. I became 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 



more and more skeptical, especially while working in two 
business establishments in Philadelphia, and when, at the 
age of fifteen years, I entered Jefferson Medical College 
as a student I was sure, with all the bumptiousness of 
youth, that I was a materialist, and that materialism was 
the real truth concerning the origin and nature of the 
universe. 

I had saved five hundred dollars towards the expense 
of going through medical college and I was in a quandary 
as to how I should raise the rest of the money when my 
Sunday school teacher proposed that I become his partner 
in a butcher shop he wanted to start in the southern end 
of Camden. I turned over the five hundred dollars to 
him, confident that, under his care, it would yield enough 
income to see me through college, but through some mis- 
management that I was unable to fathom the business was 
a failure, and I was in despair until the late Charles H. 
Mills, a member of the same class, came to my rescue and 
bought out my interest in the business. The money he paid 
me assured my start in college, and was the making of 
my subsequent career. So "Charlie" Mills, a City Coun- 
cilman afterwards, will always be gratefully remembered 
by me, and I rejoice in this opportunity to publicly 
acknowledge my indebtedness to him. 

I was rated as a good student during my first year 
in college and at the end of that period I was obliged 
to tell Professor Holland, the Dean, that I was financially 
unable to continue my studies. He would not listen to 
my stopping and gave me work as the college postmaster 
and another job of helping to prepare bodies for dissection, 
both of which tided me over the crisis very nicely. 

The Dean also gave me a job, late in the spring, of 
helping to address and mail out the college catalogues, 
and the following summer, and the two subsequent sum- 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 



mers, I worked in Anderson's cannery, in Camden. So, 
I got by my difficulty for nearly three years, and then I 
found that, future financial prospects being somewhat 
doubtful, I should have to wind up my studies with the 
third year. I applied myself harder than ever and grad- 
uated at the end of my third year with the highest honors 
in my class, but plain living, including very scanty 
lunches, had left me a mere shadow of myself when I 
entered the college. However, I was happy, and felt that 
the ' ' gray matter ' ' in my head more than compensated me 
for the loss of bodily fat. 

"While I was in college I was nicknamed "Professor" 
by my fellow students because of my enthusiasm for 
anatomy. I was always willing to help the other fellow 
with his task in dissection and I never failed in a ' ' Quiz. ' ' 

All the time I spent in dissection I was intent on 
finding "the seat of the soul." I was sure that the soul 
had bulk and occupied space. It had been claimed that 
the soul had its seat in the brocas convolution of the brain 
or in the pituitary body, the latter being a gland at the 
base of the brain. I found then that neither of these had 
anything to do with intelligence. I found also that the 
size and weight of the brain had nothing to do with 
intelligence, and, further, that the number and depth of 
the convolutions, or folds, of the brain had nothing to do 
with intelligence. So, I was forced to the conclusion that 
the soul, whatever it is, could not be reached by the 
anatomist, however skilful he may be. In other words, 
the soul, or ego, is non-material as we now understand 
material. 

These findings in my anatomical studies gave my 
youthful materialism a sad jolt, and I found myself facing 
something divine, unseen and yet all powerful. It then 
dawned on me that just as a person performs on a piano 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 



and produces melody without leaving any mark or imprint 
on the keys and mechanism so the brain is moved by the 
soul, and the anatomist finds not the slightest trace of the 
soul's action. Materialism had defeated itself in my mind, 
for it was the material work of dissecting that brought 
me out of materialism. Surely, God "moves in a myster- 
ious way his wonders to perform." 



CHAPTER II 

Before asking my readers to follow me as I describe 
the human frame I want to prepare them against fatigue 
or bewilderment over the scientific terms. If they will 
remember that, while the names of the parts of the mech- 
anism of an automobile seem a frightful tangle at first 
reading, the names become simple enough when one learns 
the uses of the parts to which they apply. When my 
reader encounters a hard anatomical name or term let him, 
or her, study the organ or part of the body to which the 
term applies and the term will thereafter be as simple, 
and as easily remembered, as any automobile term to the 
owner of an automobile. Learn the organs, the parts, of 
the human frame, familiarize yourself with the functions 
of the various organs and you will become so interested, 
so fascinated, that the terms or names will seem to come 
back to you without any thought on your part. 

Take the skeleton or framework of this human build- 
ing: It consists of more than two hundred separate and 
distinct bones. I will describe them: 

There is the vertebral column, including the sacrum 
and the coccyx. This is the main supporting column of 
the whole bony structure, or skeleton, and contains 
twenty-six bones. 

The skull rests upon the spinal column like a dome. 

Below the skull we have twenty-four ribs, twelve on 
each side, and by articulation or attachment to the spinal 
column, and to the sternum or breast bone, in front, they 
form a sort of cage, a cone-shaped cage. 

Now, let us go to the foundation of the structure, the 
pelvis. The pelvis is formed by two irregular bones, 
which are attached to the sacrum, or lower part of the 

5 



6 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

vertebral column, on either side, and united in front, the 
latter being called the pubes. These two irregular bones, 
making up the pelvis, are called the innominate bones. 

On the outer and lower part of each of the bones 
forming the pelvis there is a cavity known as the 
acetabulum. This cavity on each side receives the head 
of the thigh bone or femur. 

At the lower end of each thigh bone is attached the 
bones of the leg, namely tibia and fibula, forming the 
knee. In front of the knee is the knee cap or patella, 
which will be explained later. 

To the lower part of each leg is attached the foot, 
consisting of twenty-sis bones. The joint between leg and 
foot, is of course, the ankle joint, and this will be explained 
later. 

Now, let us go back to the top of the structure, or 
near the top. The shoulder blade, or scapula, has no direct 
bony attachment. It is attached indirectly by collar bone, 
or clavicle, which is attached to the sternum or breast 
bone. The shoulder has three movements in almost any 
direction. The blade itself, or scapula, has a purely 
muscular attachment. 

The head of the scapula, or shoulder blade, has a 
cavity, and a bony process above the cavity which protects 
the head of the arm bone from dislocation. Then we have 
the arm bone, or humerus, resting in the cavity and giving 
the ball and socket movement. 

The forearm consists of two bones, the ulna and 
radius, and is articulated at the lower end of the humerus, 
forming the elbow joint. The lower end of the radius 
and ulna is the wrist joint, connecting the hand with its 
twenty-seven small bones. 

So, we have the framework complete. 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 



Ascending to the dome, or skull, we find in it eight 
bones, shaped in such a manner that when they are united 
they form the dome. 

The face is composed of fourteen irregularly-shaped 
bones. 

The os hyoides, sternum and ribs, contain twenty-six 
bones. The os hyoides is a horse-shoe bone above the 
larnyx, or, in other words, the tongue bone, and it is not 
articulated directly to the skeleton. 

Total bones in the framework of an adult, including 
the patella and hyoides, two hundred and three. 

The hyoid bone is the tongue bone, and its purpose 
seems to be to support and hold the tongue and its tissues 
in a shapely form. It is situated below the lower maxil- 
lary, or jaw bone, and above the larnyx. It is neither 
directly nor indirectly articulated with the skeleton. 

Below the pelvis or foundation there are sixty bones, 
including the patella (one in front of each knee joint). 
These are necessary to ensure locomotion. The foundation, 
it should be remembered, is supported on the two thigh 
bones, or femurs, one on each side. 

Above, and including the pelvis or foundation, and 
the hyoides, we have one hundred and forty-three bones 
entering into the superstructure, making in all two hun- 
dred and three bones. 

Not included in the structural framework are three 
bones in each middle ear. These bones help in the trans- 
mission of sound and are named malleus, stapes and 
incus. 

Sesamoid bones are sometimes found in the tendons 
of certain muscles and are intended to give more leverage 
to those muscles. 

Long bones act as levers or supports. Short bones 
are found where limited motion and great strength are 



8 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

required, as in the vertebral column and in the hands 
and feet. 

The irregular bones are those of the vertebral column 
and face, while flat bones form the skull. 

All bones independent of the support given the human 
frame serve for the attachment of ligaments, forming the 
joints, or hinges, and the muscles, with their ligaments or 
steel springs. Thus the whole bony structure is given 
flexibility, and at the same time it supports all the soft 
parts that constitute its walls, or, in other words, enclose 
the building in which the machinery of man is located. 

The bones making up the skeleton are connected at 
different parts of their surfaces, and such a connection is 
called a joint or articulation. Where slight movement is 
required the bony surfaces are united by tough and elastic 
fibro-cartilages, as in the joints of the spine, sternum or 
breast bone, with the ribs. Where greater movement is 
necessary the joints are expanded and held together by 
strong bands or capsules of fibrous tissue called ligaments 
or hinges, and partially lined with the synoAaal membrane, 
which secretes a fluid that lubricates the various parts of 
the joint, just as we would lubricate a metal hinge. 

In most joints the articulating surfaces are somewhat 
enlarged, the enlargement consisting of spongy tissue 
which acts as a cushion to prevent injury to the heads of 
the bones and also acts as a shock absorber. 

There are several kinds of joints. First, there is the 
gliding joint, as the joints of the vertebrae. The ball and 
socket joint, as in the hip and shoulder. The hinge joint, 
as in the elbow, knee and ankle. The compound hinge 
joint, as in the wrist, giving many different movements. 

Then there is the compound and very complex joint, 
where the bones are very irregular and the surfaces must 
be adapted to suit the movements. An example of this 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 



joint is the arch of the foot, where great strength of bone 
is necessary, together with limited movement between the 
bones. 

The ribs are articulated to the vertebrae in the back, 
and by means of cartilaginous matter to the sternum or 
breast bone, giving the walls an elastic movement. This, 
with the articular arrangement to the spinal column, or 
vertebrae, gives the whole bony cage an up and down 
movement, as is seen in respiration, the diaphragm or 
lower portion between the abdomen or thoracic cavity 
moving in unison with the thoracic walls. 

The pelvic articulations in front, forming the pubes, 
and behind to the lower part of the vertebral column, or 
saero-iliac articulations, are gliding joints. 

Thus the whole body is both flexuous and flexible. 

While the spinal column is both flexuous and flexible 
it is so articulated as to render it impossible to dislocate 
it without a fracture. Hence the absurdity of a cult 
which lives by " adjusting the spinal column." The bones 
here interlock and overlap each other like the shingles on 
the roof of a house. 

Between each of the bones of the spinal column there 
is a thick cartilage like a washer, which acts as a shock 
absorber. Here, again, we see how nature protects the 
spinal column from dislocation. 

Through the spinal column there is a bony canal which 
connects with the cranium or skull, and in the body of each 
of the bones making up the column there are small foram- 
ina for the entrance and exit of blood vessels and nerves. 

Now, that we have completed the bony structure, let 
us take up the skin, or protective covering of the body. It 
is an organ for tactile sensibility and for the elimination 
of waste matter. It acts as a safety valve in excessive 
heat. The average amount of skin is about twenty feet, 



10 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

and in thickness it varies from one-eighth to one-hun- 
dredth part of an inch. It is covered with hair, which 
protects various parts of the body from the heat of summer 
and the cold of winter, and the hair also prevents the 
admission of foreign matter to the lungs, nose and ears. 
The skin contains sebaceous glands, seereting an oily 
matter by which it is lubricated and softened. 

Fats are derived from food, and serve as non-conduc- 
tors of heat. They give roundness and form to the body 
also. Fat is deposited in masses beneath the skin to 
protect various structures from injury, such as the eyeball, 
kidneys, and other delicate organs. The fats are ultimately 
oxidized, give rise to heat and energy, and finally are 
eliminated as carbonic acid and water from the body. 

The fascia are laminae or coats of variable thickness. 
The superficial fascia is composed of fibro-areola tissue, 
and is found immediately beneath the fat over almost the 
entire body. The deep fascia is dense, inelastic and fibrous, 
oversheathing the muscles, vessels and nerves, and binding 
them down into a shapely mass. This deep fascia is called 
aponeurosis, and it forms sheaths for the tendons to move 
back and forth in, like the piston in a cylinder. 

The fascia are to be compared to bandages investing 
the soft structures like a scroll. 

The deep fascia, or aponeurosis, has a white and glis- 
tening appearance, and lines the inner muscular walls of 
the thoracic cavity, or middle room, and the abdominal 
cavity, or lower room, of the building called the body. The 
deep fascia also serve as covering, or insulation, for the 
nerves. 

The skull is lined with a dense glistening membrane 
similar in appearance to the fascia or aponeurosis that 
lines the thoracic cavity, or middle room, and the abdom- 
inal cavity, or lower room. This skull membrane is called 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 11 

the dura mater, and it is continued down the spinal 
column, lining its walls, just as it lines the skull, or upper 
room of the building called man. 

The muscles are the active organs of locomotion. They 
are formed of bundles of fibres, endowed with the property 
of shortening themselves under irritation, a property called 
muscular contractility, as in steel springs. The muscles 
attach themselves to bone, cartilage, ligaments and other 
tissues, according to the particular work required of them. 

The muscles have tendons, or white glistening cords, 
connecting them with the structures on which they act. 



CHAPTER III 

Taking up the internal machinery, or organs, of the 
body : 

The liver, the largest gland in the body, weighs three 
to four pounds, and measures about twelve by six by three 
inches. It is situated in the right side of the body, directly 
under the ribs and diaphragm, or palm-leaf muscle, and is 
held in place by five ligaments. It has five lobes, five fis- 
sures and five ligaments. It is a chemical laboratory, its 
function being to secrete bile. 

The gall bladder is a pear-shaped sack, about four 
inches in length, and situated on the under surface of the 
liver. It is a reservoir for the bile, its capacity being 
about one and a half ounces, and its orifice is controlled 
by a sphincter muscle. 

The pancreas is a gland about seven inches long. It 
is situated back of the stomach, and its function is to 
secrete pancreatic juice. 

The spleen is a spongy and very vascular organ, 
measuring about five by three by two inches, and weighing 
from six to ten ounces. It is situated on the left side of 
the abdominal cavity, and under the diaphragm, or palm- 
leaf muscle. Its function is unknown, and we must say 
this of many other glands. It is thought, however, to play 
a part in nutrition, disintegrating the red blood corpuscles 
after they have fulfilled their function in the blood. 

The kidneys are organs for the secretion and excre- 
tion of urine. In other words, they are filtering plants. 
They resemble two beans in shape. Each is four to five 
inches in length and two inches in breadth, and weighs 
from four to six ounces. They are situated on either side 

12 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 13 

of the vertebral column and behind the peritoneum. They 
are protected from injury by cushions of fat. 

The ureters are musculo-membraneous tubes, sixteen 
to eighteen inches long, and about as large in diameter as 
a goose quill. They are connected by the kidneys and the 
bladder, and may be compared to plumbers ' pipes carrying 
water to the bladder, or reservoir. 

The bladder, or urinary reservoir, is a musculo- 
membraneous sac, situated in front of the pelvis and 
directly behind the pubic bone. It has a capacity of about 
one pint and its orifice is controlled by a sphincter muscle. 

The stomach is a muscular bag about thirteen inches 
long by five inches deep, and it has a capacity of about 
five pints. It has two openings and a greater and lesser 
curvature. The upper end is called the cardiac end and 
the lower end is called the pyloric end. The oesophagus 
is attached to the cardiac end the small intestine is attached 
to the pyloric end. 

The mouth is an oval cavity formed by the lips, 
cheeks, jaws, palate and tongue. It is the entrance to the 
alimentary canal, and opens posteriorly into the pharynx 
or throat. It is a mixing and grinding plant, and when 
any article of food is sufficiently masticated, or ground, 
and has been acted upon by the saliva, it is passed back- 
ward into the throat, and then on down, through the 
oesophagus, to the stomach. 

The oesophagus is a muscular tube, about nine inches 
long, and by its peculiar arrangement of muscles it auto- 
matically conveys food to the stomach. 

The small intestine is a convoluted, tubular, digestive 
organ, about twenty feet long. It is held to the spinal 
column by ligamentous bands. It is a digesting and 
extracting plant. 



14 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

The large intestine is about five feet long, of large 
calibre and saeulated. The caecum is the large, or blind, 
end into which the small bowel is inserted. It is the begin- 
ning of the large intestine or sewer, and lies in the right 
fossa or cavity of the pelvis. It extends upward to the 
under surface of the liver, and then bends to the left, across 
the abdominal cavity, or middle room, below the liver, gall 
bladder, stomach and spleen, and then 'passes downward, 
in front of the left kidney, to the left fossa, or cavity, of 
the pelvis, where it forms the sigmoid flexure, which may 
be compared to the trap for waste water in your bath room. 

The rectum is six to eight inches long from the lower 
end of the sigmoid flexure, or trap, to its orifice, which is 
controlled by a circular, or sphincter muscle. 

The alimentary canal, starting with the mouth, runs 
through the pharynx, oesophagus, stomach, duodenum, 
small bowel, large bowel or sewer to the sigmoid flexure, 
or trap, and thence to the rectum. 

Now, let us see how the stomach and intestine, being 
a digesting and extracting plant, act on the food. The 
food mass, or chyme, after chyle or nutriment is taken 
from it, is kept slowly moving to the sewer, the sigmoid 
flexure and the rectum. 

The saliva, prepared by the salivary glands of the 
mouth, is an alkaline ferment, and about two-and-a-half 
pounds of it is secreted every twenty-four hours. It is 
mixed with the food entering the mouth, converts the 
starches into grape sugar, and softens and glues the food 
mass together, and thus facilitates swallowing, which is 
the process of passing the food through the oesophagus 
and thence to the stomach. 

The stomach, which may be compared to a laboratory, 
secretes gastric juice, a ferment mixed with hydrochloric 
acid. Eight to fourteen pounds of it are secreted in 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 15 

twenty-four hours, and it quickly converts albuminous 
particles into peptone. The stomach is closed at both ends 
during the churning process, but as soon as part of the 
food mass is digested the circular muscle, or sphincter, is 
relaxed and the food passes through the pylorus into the 
intestine. 

The food mass, on entering the small intestine, is 
subjected to the action of the intestinal juice, or ferment, 
which is alkaline in reaction, its function being to convert 
starch into glucose and assist in the digestion of albuminous 
food unfinished in the stomach. 

The pancreatic juice is strongly alkaline in reaction. 
It contains three distinct ferments, and its function is to 
further aid in the digestion of the food mass, up to now 
acted upon by the saliva, gastric juice and intestinal juice, 
with these results: Starch into glucose, albuminose into 
peptones, and, finally, fats. The amount of pancreatic 
juice secreted in twenty-four hours is one to two pounds. 

Bile is both a secretion and excretion. As soon as food 
enters the intestines bile is poured from the gall bladder 
by contraction of its walls. The amount of bile secreted 
in twenty-four hours is about two-and-a-half pounds. It 
assists in the emulsification of fats, prevents putrefaction 
of the food mass, stimulates the secretions of the intes- 
tinal glands and excites a normal peristalic action of the 
bowels. 

As the digested food passes through the intestines the 
nutritious matters are absorbed by the blood, and the resi- 
due, or waste, enters the large intestine, or sewer, and is 
held by the sigmoid flexure, or trap, until the desire to 
evacuate is manifested, and then the circular, or sphincter 
muscle is relaxed, the walls of the rectum contract and the 
contents are ejected from the body. 



16 NO, NOT DEAD; TREY LITE 

The object of food, or fuel, taken into the system is 
to supply new material for the repair and upkeep of the 
body, or machine. 

The process by which the machine gets nutriment from 
the digested food is known as absorption. This is mainly 
from the alimentary canal, but to some extent it is also 
from the skin and through the lungs, by way of the 
lymphatic vessels and veins. The absorbed food is then 
oxidized or becomes what we call blood. The blood carries 
oxygen to the tissues, the tissues are burnt up, and the 
result is heat, energy and force. There can be no energy 
without heat, no heat without combustion, no combustion 
without waste, no waste without need of repair, and the 
blood repairs this waste. 

The blood is a nutritive fluid containing all the ele- 
ments necessary for the repair of the tissues. It also 
contains the principles of waste absorbed from the tissues, 
and this waste is conveyed to the various excretory organs, 
namely, the kidneys, lungs and skin. 

The apparatus for circulating the blood consists of 
the heart, the arteries, capillaries and veins. 

The heart, or pump, is a conical-shaped organ, five- 
and-a-half inches in length, and weighs from ten to twelve 
ounces in the male and eight to ten ounces in the female. 
It is located in the thoracic cavity, or middle room, between 
the lungs and immediately back of the sternum or breast 
bone. It has four cavities, a right auricle and ventricle 
and a left auricle and ventricle. The right is the venous 
side, propelling the blood through the pulmonary artery 
into the lungs. The left is the arterial side, receiving the 
blood from the lungs by way of the pulmonary veins, and 
propelling it through the arteries to the system at large. 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LITE 17 

The heart is invested externally by a closed sac, the 
pericardium, which contains a small amount of fluid to 
prevent friction on the walls of the heart. 

The object of the blood circulation is to distribute 
nutriment to all parts of the system, and to carry waste 
from the tissues to the various eliminating organs. 

The arteries may be compared to a series of branching 
tubes, or plumbing system, conveying blood to all parts of 
the body. The blood vessels are endowed with elasticity 
and contractility. There is not a hair on the head or cell 
in the body that does not receive its quota of blood through 
the capillaries, the calibre of the vessels being regulated by 
the vasomotor nerves. The blood vessels throughout the 
system are enclosed, or rather entwined, by a nerve, just 
as an ivy vine entwines the oak tree. 

The veins are the vessels which return the blood to 
the heart. As they approach the heart they converge to 
form larger trunks, and finally terminate in the venae 
cavae. The veins have valves that prevent regurgitation, 
or flowing back. 

The forces keeping the blood in circulation are the 
action of the heart, elasticity of the arteries, capillary 
force, respiratory movements and contraction of muscles 
upon the veins. 

The pleura are two delicate sacs, one about each lung. 
They contain a small amount of serous fluid which forms 
a water-bed or cushion for the lungs, and thus prevents 
injury from friction. 

The pericardium is a cone-shaped membraneous sac 
containing the heart and the roots of great blood vessels. 
It lies behind the breast bone and between the pleura, and 
contains a small amount of serous fluid for the lubrication 
of the heart, incidentally, this fluid, forming a water-bed, 
protects the heart from injury by friction. 



18 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LITE 

The peritoneum is a large closed sac containing a fluid 
which protects the organs it envelops. Some of the viscera 
are completely enveloped by the peritoneum, some are 
only partly enveloped and some not at all. This sac is 
reflected over the inner surface of the abdominal cavity, 
or lower room, and thence over the viscera. 



CHAPTER IV 

Now for the power house, the seat of the operator of 
this mighty and wonderful human machine: 

The cerebro-spinal axis consists of the spinal cord, 
medulla oblongata, pons varoli, cerebellum and cerebrum. 
The spinal cord is contained in the vertebral canal. The 
medulla oblongata, pons varoli, cerebellum and cerebrum 
are contained in the cranial cavity or upper room. 

The spinal cord is sixteen to eighteen inches long, 
about a half -inch in thickness and weighs about one and 
one-half ounces. It is cylindrical in shape and is divided 
into two lateral halves by an anterior and posterior median 
fissure. 

The cord is expanded above and below, to correspond 
with the thoracic cavity and the abdominal cavity, or the 
middle and lower rooms. On either side of the spinal cord 
there emerge thirty-one spinal nerves. These nerves are 
distributed to the upper and lower extremities, namely the 
skin, the muscles and the viscera, or the organs in the 
middle and lower rooms. 

The cerebellum is situated in the inferior fossa of the 
occipital bone, beneath the posterior lobes of the cerebrum. 
Its maximum weight in the adult is about five ounces. It 
has two lateral hemispheres, and is composed of both white 
and gray matter, the white matter being internal while the 
gray matter is external and convoluted. The cerebellum 
appears to be for the co-ordination and equilibration of the 
muscular movements, like the mechanical device for regu- 
lating the speed of an engine, namely the governor. 

The pons varoli unites the cerebrum above, the cere- 
bellum behind and the medulla oblongata below. It consists 
of transverse and longitudinal fibres, amidst which are 

19 



20 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

collections of gray nervous matter. Its function seems to 
be to transmit motor impulses and sensory impressions to 
and from their respective centres in the brain. The tuber 
annulare are ganglia in the substance of the pons varoli 
and seem to be the seat of indistinct sensation. 

The medulla oblongata is the expanded part of the 
spinal cord. It is pyramidal in form and measures one and 
and one-half inches in length, three-quarters of an inch in 
breadth and one-half inch in thickness. It is divided into 
two lateral halves by anterior and posterior median fis- 
sures which are continuous with the cord. Each half is 
again subdivided by minor grooves into four columns. The 
fibres of which it is composed pass upward through the 
pons varoli and into the cerebrum, and for the most part 
terminate in the corpus striatum. The medulla oblongata 
also contains special collections of gray matter, which con- 
stitute independent nerve centres presiding over different 
functions. 

The cerebral hemispheres are the centre of the nervous 
system, or the power house, through which are manifested 
all the phenomena of the mind. They are the centres in 
which impressions are registered, and subsequently repro- 
duced as ideas. They are the seat of intelligence, reason 
and will. However, the cerebrum is not directly essential 
for the continuance of life for it does not exert any control 
over those automatic reflex acts, such as respiration, circu- 
lation, secretion, and other processes which regulate the 
functions of organic life. 

The cerebrum, or brain, in the adult male weighs from 
forty-eight to fifty ounces, while in the adult female it is 
about five ounces less. The removal of the cerebrum in 
pigeons, for instance, destroys consciousness and the capa- 
bility of performing spontaneous movements. The same 
thing occurs in human beings where the cerebrum is 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 21 

affected by disease or crushed by accident. In such cases 
the faculties of memory, reason and judgment are abol- 
ished, and the pigeon or the human being, being merely 
an automaton, would starve or otherwise die of neglect if 
not cared for by others. In other words, the pigeon or 
the human being, like a machine, would run only as long 
as food, water and other necessities were furnished by 
outside conscious intelligences. 

Now, go back to the beginning of this chapter and see 
what is included in the cerebro-spinal axis. All these are 
protected by three membranes, and one of these membranes 
is the dura mater, a tough membrane lining the inner 
surface of the bones of the cranium, or skull, and vertebral 
canal. The arachnoid membrane is a delicate serous mem- 
brane enveloping the brain and spinal cord, and being 
reflected over the dura mater of the cranium and the spinal 
cord, forms a sac containing cerebro-spinal fluid, which acts 
as a water-bed and protects the brain and cord from injury. 
This sac dips down between the convolutions and fissures 
of the brain. 

The pia mater covers the brain and cord in a very 
direct way. It is very vascular and dips down into the 
convolutions and fissures of the brain. 

All parts of the brain and cord are protected by the 
water-bed referred to above. 

Each lateral half of the brain, or hemisphere, has five 
lobes and eight fissures, besides many fissures of lesser 
importance. 

There are several ganglia, or glands, besides the gray 
matter of the cerebral hemispheres. These, first, are two 
olfactory bulbs, or glands of the sense of smell ; two corpora 
striata, or motor glands, two optic thalami, or sensory 
glands, and the four corpora quadrigemina referred to 
elsewhere. 



22 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

The pituitary gland is outside of the brain and rests 
in a groove on the sphenoid bone immediately over the eyes 
and beneath the brain. It was thought at one time to be 
the seat of the soul, and its function is still unknown. 

The optic thalamus is a sensory ganglia about the size 
of a hazel nut, while the corpora striatum is a motor 
ganglia about the size of a shellbark. The thalami and 
the striata are situated in the lateral ventricle of each 
cerebral hemisphere, and they are connected by a thread- 
like nerve which has the most amazing function. There 
are two optic thalami and two corpora striata, one of each 
being in each lateral ventricle of the cerebrum. 

The nervous system co-ordinates all the various organs 
and tissues of the body, and brings the individual into 
conscious relationship with external nature by means of 
sensation, motion, language and mental and moral mani- 
festations. 

We have two systems of nerves, or electric wires, the 
cerebro-spinal and the sympathetic. The cerebro-spinal 
occupies the cavities of the cranium, or skull, and the 
spinal canal, and consists of the brain, the spinal cord and 
the cranial and spinal nerves. They preside over the func- 
tions of sensation and motion. 

The sympathetic system, situated along each side of 
the spinal column, consists of a double chain of ganglia, 
united by nerve cords. It extends from the base of the 
cranium, or skull, to the coccyx (lowest bone of the spinal 
column). 

Various ganglia are situated in the head, face, thorax, 
abdomen and pelvis, and all are united by communicating 
fibres, forming a vast structure like a spider web. It is 
the system of organic life, and acting independent of the 
will, governs the functions of nutrition and growth and 
the sympathetic impulses. 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 23 

Both motor and sensory nerves lose their insulation 
when they enter the brain and the spinal cord. Nerves 
may be divided according to whether they convey impres- 
sions from without inward or from in outward. 

There are twelve pairs of nerves emanating from the 
base of the brain. They pass through the foramina open- 
ings in the walls of the cranium and are distributed to the 
skin, muscles and organs of sense in the face and head. 

There have been many theories about the brain. At 
one time it was thought to secrete intelligence as the liver 
secretes bile. Then the number and depth of the folds, or 
convolutions, were thought to indicate the intellectual 
power of the individual. Both of these theories have been 
abandoned. Another theory, that the size of the brain 
determines its quality and power, is so thoroughly 
reviewed, and finally dismissed, by Dr. Louis Casamajor, 
professor of neurology at the Columbia University, College 
of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York City, that I 
venture to quote quite fully from some remarks of his 
in the November, 1922, number of the American Magazine. 
I do this to support my own statement that I had aban- 
doned all my findings in the brain as of no value in deter- 
mining the nature of the soul. 

Doctor Casamajor first makes the point that size of 
the brain is of no consequence, and he calls attention to 
Daniel Webster's unusually large skull which, however, 
contained a brain of only average size. Spurzheim, famous 
German scientist, had a skull that was exactly the same 
size as the skull of Joachim, an idiot. He also quotes 
Bischoff's tables of 159 brains, each weighing more than 
61 ounces, and in all of which there was only one 
learned man. Thirteen of the brains were from criminals, 
and the heaviest brain was from a day laborer. He goes 
over the list of 35 eminent men each of whom had a br? 



24 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

averaging about 68 ounces, and against these he tells 
of 125 persons of weak or very ordinary intelligence 
whose brains were heavier. For instance, an idiot boy that 
never spoke and who nearly killed his sister, had a brain 
heavier than either Napoleon's or Webster's. 

Doctor Casamajor said: "We know comparatively little 
about the relation of the actual physical brain to what 
we call the mind. ' ' He thinks, though, that the degree of 
possible intelligence depends primarily on the number 
and kind of nerve cells in the brain. A child has all the 
potential intelligence it will ever have. The brain cells 
will not increase in number but they may increase in size. 
The brain responds to impressions received through the 
senses and these impressions are recorded in the brain cells. 
The larger the number of impressions recorded the greater 
the intelligence. Of course, he says, there must be good 
communication between the two hemispheres of the brain, 
and the nervous system generally. It may be significant 
that in some idiots the corpus callosum, a band of nerve 
fibers connecting the two hemispheres, is absent. But, a 
human being's possible intelligence is predetermined, in 
the number of his brain cells, when he is born. There are, 
perhaps, ten billions of cells in the brain, but there are 
millions of undeveloped cells, even in the brain of a learned 
man, when old age is reached. "Millions of twelve-cylinder 
brains are hitting on only one cylinder." 

He pictures the brain as the central office, just as I 
have done elsewhere in this book, and points out the nerve 
cells of the entire body as sending and receiving stations, 
and the nerve fibers as wires, just as I have done. Not 
that I am making any such silly claim as to be the first 
one to observe these things but only that my findings were 
correct and have since been verified by eminent authorities, 

well as stated by some authorities before my time. 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 25 

He also recommends the formation of brain habits or 
concentrated thinking for a definite purpose. In other 
words, study. He warns against the effect of the emotions 
upon the brain and the circulatory system. 

I found evident connection between movements of the 
body and certain centres of the brain. This fact was ascer- 
tained by applying an electric current to various parts of 
the exposed brain of a monkey, one centre, when touched 
by the electricity, producing a movement of the arm, 
another a movement of the leg, and so on. But, mark this, 
these bodily movements left no imprint upon the brain 
centres and produced no movement in them. 

The ventricles of the brain are five cavities. First, 
there are two lateral ventricles, one within the substance 
of each hemisphere. The third ventricle is between the 
optic thalami, on the base of the brain. The fourth ven- 
tricle is between the cerebellum and the medulla oblongata. 
The fifth ventricle is between the two lateral ventricles in 
the septum lucidum. 

All five ventricles contain a serous fluid, which is 
continuous with the cerebro-spinal fluid. They have no 
particular function outside of sheltering and protecting 
important ganglia and nerves from friction with adjacent 
parts or organs of the cranial cavity. At the same time 
these ventricles allow for expansion of the brain when 
there is increased blood pressure from any cause. 

The corpora quadrigemina are four small rounded 
eminences, two being on each side of the median line, and 
are situated immediately behind the third ventricle and 
beneath the posterior border of the corpus callosum. They 
are the physical centres of sight, transforming the lumi- 
nous impressions into visual sensations, and they preside 
over the reflex movements of the iris, causing contraction 
or dilation of it. 



26 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

The gray matter found in the convolutions of the 
brain, on its surface, in the spinal cord, and in various 
ganglia of the cerebro-spinal and sympathetic nervous 
systems, consists of a fine meshwork, in which are imbedded 
the gray cells or vesicles. The white matter, found for the 
most part in the interior of the brain, on the surface of the 
spinal cord and in almost all the nerves of the cerebro- 
spinal system, consists of minute fibres. These are the 
ultimate nerve filaments. 

Ganglia are small bodies, varying in size, and situated 
at the roots of the spinal nerves, on the sensory cranial 
nerves, and alongside of the vertebral column. They form 
a connecting chain and are regarded as relays. 



CHAPTER V 

Approaching the organs that give us our five senses, 
of hearing, seeing, smelling, feeling and tasting, we have, 
first, the larynx, a musculo-membraneous and cartilaginous 
box between the trachea, or windpipe and base of the 
tongue. It is the essential organ of speech, and the 
arrangement of the upper, or false, vocal cords and the 
lower, or true, vocal cords may be compared to a reed and 
pipe instrument combined. 

The vocal cords are the reeds, and the quality of the 
voice depends upon the length and thickness of the cords, 
and the size, form and structure of the trachea, or wind- 
pipe, and the resonant cavity of the pharynx, nose and 
mouth. 

The trachea is a tube four to five inches long and three- 
quarters of an inch in diameter. It extends downward 
from the lower edge of the larynx and then divides into 
right and left bronchi. These bronchial tubes become 
smaller and their walls become thinner until they finally 
become so minute that they can no longer be recognized 
as tubes, but merge into the lung tissue or air cells. 

The lungs, a pair of bellows, occupying the cavity of 
the thorax, or middle room, are conical in shape. They 
are composed of countless numbers of air cells. The venous 
blood is distributed to the lungs for aeration, being sep- 
arated only by the delicate walls of the air cells and the 
capillaries. The larynx, the trachea, or windpipe, and the 
lungs, are really a ventilating system. 

The opening into the larynx is protected above by a 
lid known as the epiglottis. On inspiration, or the taking 
in of air, this opening is so dilated as to admit air freely 
into the lungs. In expiration the larynx becomes passive. 

27 



28 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 



The vocal cords, being elastic, return to their original posi- 
tion. The epiglottis automatically closes during the act 
of swallowing to prevent foreign substances from entering 
the air passages, and respiration is at the same time tem- 
porarily suspended. 

Respiration is the function whereby oxygen is 
absorbed into the blood and carbonic acid is expelled. The 
movements of respiration are alternate dilation and con- 
traction. Inspiration is an active process, the chest being 
raised, and enlarged in all diameters, by contraction, and 
the inflation of all lung tissues with air. Expiration is 
partly a passive process, the result of the recoil of the 
elastic walls of this cage of bones, and hence its partly 
cartilaginous construction. 

The organ of hearing is divided into the external ear, 
the middle ear and the internal ear. 

The external ear may be compared to a megaphone. 
It is an irregularly folded cartilage, is covered wth skin, 
and united to the side of the head. The folds are so 
arranged as to catch sound vibrations and transmit them 
to the middle ear or tympanum. The middle ear is an 
irregularly-shaped cavity. It is separated from the exter- 
nal ear by a membrane and from the internal ear by 
another membrane. These membranes are thin, delicate 
and translucent, circular in shape, about two-fifths of an 
inch in diameter and suspended within delicate rings of 
bone. 

The middle ear communicates with the pharynx, or 
throat, through a small tube, called the eustachian tube, 
which admits air, a very necessary element in hearing. 

The function of the membranes, or drums, is to receive 
and transmit waves of sound vibration to the chain of bones 
formed by the malleus, incus and stapes. The function of 
the chain of bones is to receive and transmit the wave 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 29 

sounds across the drum or tympanum to the internal ear, 
and finally to the auditory nerves, and thence to the brain. 

The malleus bone resembles a hammer, the incus bone 
resembles an anvil, and the stapes bone resembles a stirrup. 
The outer ear resembles a megaphone and the tympanum 
resembles a kettle drum. 

The eyeball, organ of vision, is spherical, and situated 
within the orbital cavity on either side of the nose. It is 
retained within the cavity by its muscles, the optic nerve 
and a loose capsule or conjunctiva. It is protected by 
bony walls, the lids and the lashes, and it rests upon a 
cushion of fat. It is controlled by six muscles, and the 
tendon of one of the muscles passes through a pulley. 

The iris is a circular muscle regulating the light rays 
passing through its central aperture, or pupil, and focus- 
ing on the sensitive membrane, or retina, in the back part 
of the eyeball, where the light rays produce their effect, 
like a camera. 

The eyeball is provided with the lachrymal gland, in 
the upper and outer part of the orbital cavity, which 
secretes the tears that flow over the eyeball like a water- 
fall, washing out foreign substances, and then passing 
down a duct at the inner canthus and thence into the 
nasal cavity. 

The nose, a bridge-like structure of great strength, is 
located beneath the forehead and between the two orbital 
cavities. It is part cartilage. It is separated into two 
cavities by a perpendicular plate of bone and a triangular 
cartilage which makes a complete partition wall, the en- 
trances being called the nostrils. They are the air passages 
to the ventilating system. 

The tongue is a muscular fibrous body, and the mem- 
brane covering it is continued as lining of the entire 
alimentary canal, changing somewhat in structure as it 



30 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

goes downward, but depending somewhat upon the work 
it is called upon to do. 

The sense of feeling, or tactile sensibility of the skin, 
varies according to the number of tactile, or sensitive, 
corpuscles, the palm of the hand being the most sensitive. 
In loss of eyesight the tips of the fingers are greatly 
increased in sensitiveness, so much so in some cases as to 
almost compensate for the lack of sight. Were it not for 
this sensitiveness of the skin of the fingers and other parts 
of the body you could injure yourself and not know it. 

All cavities or canals communicating with the external 
air are protected by a mucous membrane, or skin-like 
covering, and this membrane sometimes has a surface 
secreting mucous, a slimy substance protecting it from the 
weather, as in the case of the mouth and the nose. The 
lips and the edges of the nostrils have no need of mucous 
and hence they lack mucous glands. 

This same membrane is called serous membrane when 
it extends into cavities that have no external openings, 
such as the pleura cavities, the pericardium, the peritoneal 
and the arachnoid. In these openings the membrane has 
a smooth and glossy surface from which exudes a serous 
fluid protecting the organs from injury and lubricating 
their surfaces. 

The mucous membrane, continuing back and down 
from the mouth to the stomach, the small intestine and 
lastly the colon or sewer, undergoes changes depending 
upon the work it is to do, and it contains glands of a varied 
nature, and important in the digestion of food and the 
making of blood. 

Before leaving this matter of the physical organs, I 
want to point out that man is not constructed on fixed 
and permanent lines. Some organs are missing in some 
persons, and out of their usual places in other persons. 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 31 

Some organs in the body have been discarded, apparently, 
and others are in process of disuse and disappearance. 
Anatomists agree on this. Take the wormian bones, with 
serrated edges, between the cranial bones, separating the 
cranial bones like the interlocking teeth of two saws. These 
wormian bones were originally soft cartilage in the infant, 
and now, in adult life, are ossified. 

There are some bones that have no bony attachment 
to the skeleton. They are known as sesamoid bones, are 
variable in number, and, are found in the tendons of cer- 
tain muscles. They act as fulcrums, giving these certain 
muscles greater leverage, as in the muscles that raise the 
heel, and extend the foot, and the muscles that flex the 
great toe and the thumbs. 

So, man is unquestionably changing physically, and 
it is not yet revealed what we shall be. How foolish, then, 
for the theologian, or others, to assume that God has 
reached the end of His ingenuity and that it is sacrilege 
for us to assume that He has not reached the end of His 
design for us! 



CHAPTER VI 

Neither chemistry nor physics, nor anything of the 
kind, dominates life, but it is the life principle building 
a body in accordance with heredity and environment, un- 
folding the body for its purposes and work, whether that 
body be of the simplest form or the most developed form. 
In the vegetable body the life principle is unconscious 
and yet it selects, adapts and appropriates such elements 
as it needs to prolong its existence while in the animal 
body the life principle is conscious and through the sense 
organs intelligently selects, adapts and appropriates the 
elements it needs to prolong its existence. The body, or 
shell, containing the life principle varies or departs from 
its kind under long processes of heredity and environment, 
discarding one organ for a new one until, finally, a new 
species is developed. All this may be learned from an 
unprejudiced study of anthropology. Unquestionably the 
spirit, or life principle, is constantly changing the body 
enveloping it to suit an ever-changing environment. Man 
is continually evolving to higher and higher forms. 

The life principle exists independently of the body 
containing it. In man the life principle, or soul, is endowed 
with all the faculties we now know and with others un- 
known. The soul can act at a distance telepathically, 
without the aid of the senses, for there is a psychic element 
in nature still hidden from us. 

In the process of body building, according to the order 
of evolution, life appeared first as a simple cell, and cell 
succeeded cell until the most complicated organism was 
the result. Organ was added to organ, according to the 
surrounding conditions, and changing conditions changed 
the needs and functions of the organism, but the soul could 

32 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 33 

only express its powers according to the character of the 
organism. 

A cell, in the days of Harvey, the discoverer of the 
circulation of the blood, meant a sac, but in this age it 
means a negative and positive polarity of energy. We have 
nerve cells, life cells and germ cells. To explain a cell fur- 
ther, a blood corpuscle has a nuclei, and that nuclei con- 
sists of two microscopic tadpoles, which are the negative 
and the positive polarity, or male and female. This nega- 
tive and positive, or male and female, expression is found 
throughout nature, down to the lowest planes of gener- 
ation. 

The millions of cells making up your blood form the 
medium through which your soul can hold itself in com- 
munal partnership with your physical expression, and 
when you pass into the spiritual world those elements of 
soul expression that are able to go with you go, and they 
are in reality the magnetic atmosphere of your spiritual 
body. They are germinal elements in the great atmosphere 
in which you are living, the great energy, or potency, of 
the universe which you breathe into your lungs and so 
into your blood. 

Again, blood is the home of souls, or life cells, just 
as the acorn is the home of an oak tree cell. These blood 
corpuscles, or polarities of negative and positive energy, 
are elemental men and women, and they are subject to 
feeling and will. Mental states affect them, and they affect 
changing states in the body. The blood cells give the mag- 
netic atmosphere, which may be defined as an atmosphere 
of vital elements lying back of all vital form. The cells 
are to the chemistry of spirit what electrons are to the 
chemistry of matter. 

One of the great questions of today is to what extent 
does the elemental man, or blood corpuscle, act on mental 



34 NO, NOT DEAD; TREY LIVE 

and physical states and determine the charater of the lives 
to come. These cells are below temperament and instinct, 
below heredity, and yet they bring about great spiritual 
and physical changes. 

The mother and the father of the child are but ve- 
hicles for the soul, or the medium through which it em- 
bodies itself in matter form and enters the realm of reason. 
All the instincts have been acquired by the soul when it 
enters this realm of matter form. It received these 
instincts while, as part of the blood current, it was in 
contact with the mental life of the father or the mother. 
It did not begin to live when it took on the foetal relation, 
but before it entered the ovum, or egg, it was impressed 
with the instinctive characteristics of its future mentality. 
The mother brought to its aid other magnetic elements 
and, so equipped, it entered the plane of new soul life 
through the vehicle of motherhood. 

When the mother is in a good magnetic state she will 
dominate the sex and largely control the constitution and 
mental powers of the child. When she is feeble, or mag- 
netically weak, she will be the matrix of a male person- 
ality. 

The soul is not in itself sexed, but its sex is due to 
the magnetic relation it takes on at the time of conception. 
It is in itself both male and female, or in other words it 
is pure soul. Before the cell, or pure soul, can start on 
the plane of the new life, or sexhood, it must pass into 
the ovaries of the mother and there undergo development 
into the ovum or egg. In the father the cells are carried 
to the tubules of the testicles, and there developed into 
spermatozoa, which become very active and readily enter 
the ovum or egg during its passage toward the womb. This 
fecundation, or union, usually takes place in the fallopian 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 35 

tube, just outside the womb, or in the darkest and most 
secluded place for the first few days of fcetal life. 

The soul is subject to influences which do not approach 
consciousness on the sense-perceptive channel, but reach 
consciousness by the subjective channel, which is related 
to the spiritual sphere. The soul can only express that 
which embodiment will permit. Whatever may be in the 
soul above or below the line of sense-perception cannot 
be determined by sense, but the personality is determined 
by the whole field of these influences and relations. With 
the death of the physical body and birth of the personality 
of the spirit there is a great change due to new conditions 
surrounding the soul. This loss of the physical body does 
not make the soul either saint or devil, but is an event 
that changes the mental state of the soul, awakens dormant 
powers in it and enlarges the power of perception. The 
soul breathes from the atmosphere of soul. It breathes out 
the mind atmosphere of the soul sphere. It is on a bare 
plain, and exposed to the winds, storms and cyclones of 
spirit thought, illumination and clairvoyance. It stores 
up expression of the soul mind and it gives expression of 
that mind. So, it is a changing personality as to capacity. 

Going back to the blood for a moment: Cut your 
finger, and down through the capillares will rush the blood 
corpusles to the bleeding point, where they build a bridge 
across the wound. See, also, how the blood is affected by 
thought : The young maiden blushes. That blush is a mag- 
netic disturbance of the blood corpuscles of the entire 
system. The pallor of fear, or the flush of anger, changes 
the constitution of the blood corpuscles and affects the 
brain and the whole vital system. This rush of blood to 
the cut finger is a message through the sympathetic system 
of nerves to the brain, and an influence is signaled to the 
injured part and the flow of blood is shut off by a vaso- 



36 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

constrictor nerve, and the injured part is bridged over, 
or repaired. Such is the case in the pallor of fear or the 
flush of anger, while in the case of the young maiden 
blushing a vaso dilator impulse is sent out and an in- 
creased amount of blood is the result. These things are 
brought about by the magnetic condition of the blood 
acting on the sympathetic system of nerves, and an impulse 
is sent out in accordance with the impressions received or 
the requirements of the occasion. 



CHAPTER VII 

I wish I could feel the glow in the man who, when I 
explained the human form to him, said: "Doctor, it puts 
me right on my knees in awe, reverence and worship. I 
cannot understand how any physician, or any other man 
knowing what you have shown me, can be a materialist." 
But, alas, for me, a practicing physician and surgeon, that 
glow is impossible, and yet I yield to no man in reverence 
for the mysteries that confront us when we look at the 
human organism. 

Take all human ingenuity, put it all together, and I 
will show you that it is the simplest and crudest of child's 
toy when compared with the human frame and organs. 
Truly, this is "man wonderful in the house beautiful." 
Take, for instance, the most perfect printing press: You 
show me how it takes a roll of paper, cuts it into lengths, 
prints each length in several colors at one impression, 
folds, and pastes or binds, several sections together, counts 
the completed copies, and delivers them, ready for han- 
dling, and I will show you a greater machine, with scores 
and scores of processes in action, and yet without an 
operator in sight. That greater machine is this human 
frame and its organs. 

Show me the most perfect building, with all modern 
improvements, and I can laugh at your discomfiture as I 
show you this human body, with its marvelous framework, 
stronger than your boasted building, and yet both flexible 
and flexuous. I will show you its wonderful walls, adapt- 
ing themselves to the outer atmosphere; its rooms, more 
splendidly furnished, in conveniences, than the rooms of 
the grandest palace. 

37 



38 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

Show me your great electrical building, or outdoor 
electrical system, with all its wires, and relays, and meters, 
and what-not, and I can laugh it to scorn as I point out 
the nervous system of the human body. In sight of this 
nervous system, Marconi, Edison and all the rest of the 
world's great electrical inventors, would confess to being 
only children playing with toys. 

Show me the world's greatest aqueduct and pumping 
apparatus, and it will dwindle into nothingness when I 
show you the functions of the human heart. Show me your 
world's greatest ventilating system, in mine or building, 
and it will be equally trivial when I show you the func- 
tions of the human lungs. Show me all you can do, the 
~best you can do, in lubricating and guarding from friction 
the world's most delicate machinery, and you will forget 
it in amazement when I show you how this human organism 
Is lubricated. 

Tell me of the most wonderful machine that the mind 
of man ever conceived, and I will show you this human 
machine with innumerable gauges, safety valves, and other 
organs endowed with intelligence like human sentinels, 
telling the machinery within of a coming breakdown or 
let-up in speed and energy. 

Show me your greatest collection of machinery in mill 
or factory and I will probably ask you : ' ' How many men 
and women do you need to run all this?" You will take 
me around and show me all of these men and women, all 
busily engaged in running this wonderful plant. But 
when I show you this human machine, and tell you, day 
after day, how it operates, and you ask me: "Where and 
who is the operator of this marvelous machine?" I will 
say to you: "The operator is not here and yet He is here. 
The operator is in all, through all and under all: The 
operator is Almighty God." Then, when the materialist 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 39 

tells you that all this is merely the automatic action of 
matter — when he tells you a lot of drivel that explains 
nothing you will say with the man I spoke of at the begin- 
ning of this chapter: "Let us pray!" And, mayhap, for 
the first time in your life you will not hesitate to tell your 
fellow-men that you pray — that, as the old English hymn 
says, "While I breathe I pray." You will then under- 
stand Sir Francis Bacon's remarks, in his essay on 
Atheism, when he says: 

"God never wrought miracle to convince atheism 
because His ordinary works convince it. It is true, that 
a little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism, but 
depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to re- 
ligion; for while the mind of man looketh upon second 
causes scattered, it may sometimes rest in them, and go 
no further, but when it beholdeth the chain of them con- 
federate, and linked together, it must needs fly to Provi- 
dence and Deity." 

Run over this human organism and note in detail just 
what it comprises : 

Here is the brain, with switchboard, the power house, 
or seat of the invisible operator. 

See the spinal cord, a mass of cables, and smaller 
cables or nerves leading from the brain to all parts of the 
body. Each nerve is insulated like one of our ordinary 
live wires, but in a much finer way. 

Here is the ventilating system, beginning with the 
nose, larynx and windpipe, and extending to the two great 
bellows, the lungs. 

The stomach, with its peculiar arrangement of mus- 
cles, forming a great churn and chemical laboratory. The 
liver, another chemical laboratory. The kidneys, a filter- 
ing plant. The pancreas, still another laboratory. 



40 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

Here are the small intestines, with their arrangement 
of muscles, acting as a conveyor, and finishing the process 
of digestion started in other organs. 

Finally, see the waste matter carried to the great 
sewerage system, the large bowel, and held by a trap until 
desire to evacuate is created, when the invisible operator 
releases a sphincter muscle, which opens the traps and 
discharges the waste. 

It will take hours upon hours to see all of this human 
machine, and we shall find that every time we make a trip 
through it we miss or overlook something. 

Nothing in man-made mechanics can equal the com- 
pound joint of the human body. Nothing in man-made 
arches can approach the arch of the human foot. The 
man-made arch must be rigid. When it swings or bends 
it is about to collapse, but the arch of the human foot is 
both rigid and swinging, capable of supporting a great 
weight and yet flexible. 

All man-made mechanical movements are borrowed 
from the human body, and yet none of the movements of 
the body can be exactly duplicated. 

Go over all your man-made mechanical movements 
and you will find none equalling this human machine in 
strength, rigidity and flexibility, and — yes, in delicate 
balancing of all its parts. This balancing of the parts 
of the human body should, alone, convince the skeptic of 
the existence of some Power outside the body. Let us 
look at this balancing of the parts when the body is in 
locomotion : 

See the falx cerebri and the falx cerebelli, two tough 
scythe-shaped ligaments, or reflections from the dura 
mater, or lining membrane of the interior of the skull. 
The falx cerebri dips down into the longitudinal fissure, 
thereby suspending the brain or cerebrum. The falx 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 41 

cerebelli dips down between the lateral lobes of the cere- 
bellum, thereby suspending it. Therefore, both the cere- 
brum, or brain, and the cerebellum are suspended, allow- 
ing the cerebro-spinal fluid, explained elsewhere, to flow 
freely through the ventricles and around these important 
organs, thereby preventing any undue pressure at any 
point and any interference with the operations of the 
brain, cerebellum, ganglia or nerves. 

The cerebellum is to the physical organism what a 
mechanical device called a "governor" is to an engine. 
In other words, the cerebellum regulates locomotion in 
the physical organism just as the "governor" regulates 
the speed of an engine. 

The brain does not rest on the floor of the skull, as 
some people think. If it did it would be a shapeless 
mass, and its own weight would shut off blood, and nerve 
impulses, and total paralysis, as well as brain starvation, 
would result. 

Every part of the body is in motion when the man 
is walking. His weight is thrown from one leg to 
the other, and so the body is drawn forward on its course. 
The head, resting upon the spinal column by means of a 
pivot, turns easily from side to side. His eyes roll, and 
his whole being is alert, and balanced, prepared to save 
him from danger. Every joint and hinge, is in use, except, 
perhaps, the maxilla, and sometimes that is too. 

See the lungs supported in the back by ligaments to 
the spinal column. See also the seventeen folds of the 
peritoneum, forming ligaments which support and attach 
the various organs of the abdominal cavity, namely the 
stomach, liver, bladder, spleen, rectum, and, in the female, 
the womb. 

Compare this human machine with the most perfect 
automobile: The automobile is supported by its four 






42 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

wheels, while man supports his weight during locomotion 
by, first, one leg and then the other leg. All the man's 
mechanism is delicately balanced, and kept in equilibrium 
by the cerebellum, thus reducing the chances of injury to 
the minimum. 

Now, look at the nose : A bony structure and yet 
capable of detecting the most delicate odors. Is there 
anything in human mechanics to be compared with it ? 

Remember that every hair of your head and body is 
supplied with blood by means of capillaries, and the supply 
of blood is regulated by nerves that dilate or contract the 
capillaries. Is there anything in man-made things so 
delicate and so accurate? Can this marvelous provision 
for our hair be accounted for by any mere materialistic 
conception of man? 

Stop right here and reflect: In view of the wonders 
of the human frame, wonders in operation without our 
conscious knowledge, is it not reasonable — in fact, the only 
reasonable thing — to assume that the operating power, of 
which we find no trace in dissection, is no more a part of 
the body than the bird is a part of the cage? Open the 
door of the cage and the bird is gone. So, when dissolu- 
tion begins in the physical body the soul is released. The 
bird lives elsewhere and under other conditions, and so 
with the soul of man. 

Surely, man is fearfully and wonderfully made, and 
his maker is God. 



CHAPTER VIII 

I need not go into more detail, I trust, but I hope 
my reader will read again my brief survey of the human 
frame and organs, in the chapters preceding this. Then, 
perhaps, yes, he will surely catch a glimmer of the light 
that dawned on me when I, a bumptious young medical 
student, found myself a fool in denying the spiritual 
origin and nature of mankind. I feel, sometimes, that I 
can never atone for my skepticism at that early period of 
my life, but as long as I live on this earth sphere I shall 
continue to testify to the spiritual light that I have re- 
ceived, and shall urge my fellow-men to seek the same light. 
We can reach unto this light, each of us, in his own heart 
and mind. We do not need, first, to accept any creed, 
or listen to the howling of any hell-fire and brimstone 
evangelist. The Master himself, Jesus, said that we must 
be as little children, must see the truth as clearly as little 
children do, before we can enter the kingdom of heaven, 
and the kingdom of heaven is within us, not in any church 
or man-made creed. 

An old-time Spiritualist, long ago passed on to other 
spheres, wrote of his mental struggles, before he accepted 
the truth of Spiritualism as follows: 

Long did I toil amid the sand. The stones 

Oft eut my feet, but I went on to the goal. 

The nights were dark, the skies were black, 

But on I went, with seldom a star to light my path. 

Stumbling, I often fell, yet in pain went on, 

For voices bade me rise and walk, and labor to complete my task, 

And charming dreams did lure me to fancied paradise. ' 

I tarried oft and sought the waters, for I was athirst, 

But there was none; the river bed was dry. 

And thus I toiled and wandered far to find the end. 

O, could I have but seen how long and how hard the road 

I would have fainted long before the goal was reached. 

43 



44 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

A solitary star of night shone out, and the bars of night gave 

Way before the birth of lordly morn that 

Led to the greater glories of the day. 

Then spirits came, and with their glorious breath breathed 

Into my torpid brain the thought of other spheres. 

And, lo, like a current of warmer air, I spoke 

The thoughts as though the force of heaven 

Directed me to speak. 

The thought was trained to meet the wants of heart and brain. 

And so I labored. 

My labor then was so to live 

That I might be a perfect channel for the souls 

Walking the ethereal plane and loving man. 

And so I struggled on — am struggling still 

To be the instrument attuned with harmonious strings 
Whereon spirits can play their truthful psalms of life, 
And give through me a legacy of thought to 1 man. 

Some friends have asked me to include in this book a 
statement of the theories held by materialists and to con- 
fute those theories from my own point of view. I shall 
try to oblige them. 

Materialists claim that matter is the only reality in 
the world, and that every event in the universe results 
from the conditions and activity of matter. This, of 
course, necessitates denial of God and the soul. Material- 
ists believe that life arose from inorganic matter without 
antecedent life, and that "consciousness and thought are 
merely functions of the ganglionic cells of the cortex of 
the brain." The words in quotation marks are from the 
writings of no less an authority on materialism than Pro- 
fessor Haeckel, of Germany. I have shown the futility 
and absurdity of looking in the brain for the soul as a 
visible organ, to be revealed by dissection, but let us 
proceed with our analysis of materialism. 

Professor Haeckel admits that the process of forming 
life by combinations of cells, as we see it, may not be the 
highest form of life — that there may be higher forms of 
life than man, higher beings who far transcend us in 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 45 

intelligence for instance. Here, in my judgment, is 
where materialism breaks down. First, it sees nothing 
but the matter about it, and then, finding visible matter 
inert, it admits that there may be something higher than 
visible matter. The reader will agree with me that if 
matter were of itself originally in motion, and the cause 
of all things, it could have never come to rest, for when 
it came to rest all things would cease. Out of nothing 
would come nothing. 

Now, as to the forms of life made up by combinations 
of matter: A painting is held together by the cohesive 
forces of .the pigments, but the pigments did not make 
the picture. A grand cathedral is held together by inor- 
ganic forces, but those forces did not make the cathedral. 
If the materialist is right, and mind is the product of 
matter, it is reasonable to say that the pigments made 
the mind that conceived and painted the picture. If the 
mind is the product of matter, the grand cathedral made 
the mind that designed and built it. This is reducing an 
absurdity to utter silliness but, I ask my reader, isn't it 
logical ? Matter is the vehicle of mind, but it is dominated 
and transcended by it, and if mind dominates and trans- 
cends matter it must exist before matter, must have always 
preceded matter. Therefore, before matter there was mind, 
and that mind was — GOD. 

Many attempts have been made to generate life with- 
out antecedent life, but all such attempts have failed. 
These attempts are usually made by packing together suit- 
able materials, rigorously excluding all life germs, and 
then keeping the mass at an even temperature for a long 
while. Frankly, isn't it laughable to see puny man trying 
to play the part of the Creator, the great architect and 
builder of the universe ? 



46 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

But, assuming that one of these attempts to generate 
life without antecedent life should succeed, it would be 
merely a reproduction of a process that at some past age 
occurred on the earth for the earth at one time was hot 
and molten and inorganic, and now it is swarming with 
life. That does not prove that the earth generated the 
life any more than it generates the gases of its atmos- 
phere. 

As Sir Oliver Lodge so finely says in his book on ' ' Life 
and Matter": "Life possesses the power of vitalising the 
complex material aggregates which exist on this planet, 
and of utilising their energies for a time to display itself 
amid terrestrial surroundings; and then it seems to disap- 
pear or evaporate whence it came. It is perpetually 
arriving and perpetually disappearing. While it is here, if 
it is at a sufficiently high level, the animated material body 
moves about and strives after many objects, some worthy ; 
some unworthy ; it acquires thereby a certain individuality, 
a certain character. It may realise itself, moreover, becom- 
ing conscious of its own mental and spiritual existence ; and 
it then begins to explore the Mind which, like its own, it 
conceives must underlie the material fabric — half dis- 
played, half concealed, by the environment, and intelligible 
only to a kindred spirit. Thus the scheme of law and order 
dimly dawns on the nascent soul, and it begins to form clear 
conceptions of truth, goodness, and beauty ; it may achieve 
something of permanent value, as a work of art or of 
literature ; it may enter regions of emotion and may evolve 
ideas of the loftiest kind; it may degrade itself below the 
beasts, or it may soar until it is almost divine. 

"Is it the molecular aggregate that has of its own 
unaided latent power generated this individuality, acquired 
this character, felt these emotions, evolved these ideas? 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 47 

There are some who try to think that it is. There are 
others who recognise in this extraordinary development a 
contact between this material frame of things and a uni- 
verse higher and other than anything known to our senses ; 
a universe not dominated by physics and chemistry, but 
utilising the interactions of matter for its own purposes; 
a universe where the human spirit is more at home than 
it is among these temporary collocations of atoms; a uni- 
verse capable of infinite development, of noble contempla- 
tion, and of lofty joy, long after this planet — nay, the 
whole solar system — shall have fulfilled its present sphere 
of destiny, and retired cold and lifeless upon its endless 
way." 

With these beautiful words from Sir Oliver Lodge I 
leave the argument for Spiritualism vs. Materialism with 
my readers. 



CHAPTER IX 

What do we mean by consciousness in the new-born 
baby, the soul that has taken on sexhood and embarked 
upon its journey upon the earth plane? Before conscious- 
ness appeared there was a condition that may be compared 
with vegetable consciousness, a consciousness that did not 
know it was planning, designing or adapting. It was a 
lack of self-consciousness. There are two sorts of con- 
sciousness, namely the unconscious power to co-ordinate 
and the conscious power to co-ordinate or knowingly design 
and plan. 

Looking into the lateral hemispheres of the cerebrum 
or brain we find it has two ventricles near their base, and 
in each of these ventricles we find two ganglia, one being 
a sensory ganglia, or optic thalmia, about the size of a 
hazel nut, and the outer a motor ganglia, or corpora 
striata, about the size of a shellbark. 

The eye of man will interpret correctly between six 
hundred and six hundred and fifty million vibrations per 
second. Each optic nerve has thirty-two thousand strands. 
These strands spread out and form the retina, a sensitive 
membrane back of the eyeball, upon which objects are 
focussed. These vibrations are continued to the optic 
thalami through the optic nerve, of which there are two, 
one in each lateral ventricle. The cellular structure of the 
thalami gives a sort of storage battery for the storing and 
continuity of sensational energy. When a sensation reaches 
the optic thalmia it is passed to other ganglia, the corpora 
striata, of which there are two, one in each lateral ven- 
tricle. The optic thalami are sensory ganglia and the 
corpora striata are motor ganglia, and connecting the 
thalami and the striata is a thread-like nerve, which is the 

48 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 49 

seat of consciousness or the post of the soul. Here the soul 
stands and perceives the sensation passing from thalami 
to striata. A motor impulse is then sent out, or the sen- 
sations, perceptions and ideas are stored as conscious or 
subconscious memory. 

All animals that possess a corpora striata are con- 
scious and so possess an immortal spirit as we do, and they 
will live after physical death. 

There is a small thread-like nerve passing in x-like 
form between the corpora striata and the optic thalami, 
and when this nerve is disconnected in trance, natural 
sleep, or sleep induced by drugs, gas or hypnosis, you are 
unconscious of your surroundings. If this nerve were cut 
you would be thrown into one continuous sleep, and here, 
I believe, is the seat of the "Sleeping sickness." If a 
surgeon could cut that nerve you would never awaken. 

This is the reason why the soul was unconscious before 
it was embodied. This is why you had no f oetal conscious- 
ness. This is why you cannot remember your first year. 
Sensations are the awakening of consciousness. This is 
why the spirit is embodied. This is why we call this life a 
school. The spirit would never have become conscious if 
it had not been embodied. Contact with nature must be 
through sensation. No sensation, no awakening ; no awaken- 
ing, no knowledge. 

The complicated cells are not the I, the self, but they 
are, for the most part, the pigeon holes in which the sen- 
sations, perceptions and ideas are stored. 

The soul built the body as a sort of vegetable act. A 
tree absorbs nutriment and water through its roots, and 
breathes in oxygen and exhales carbonic acid gas through 
its leaves. It sleeps in winter and awakens in spring, and 
in its season will bear fruit. Still, it is not conscious, but 
leads an automatic life, has a mind, but no self-conscious- 



50 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

ness. Now, the soul of man passed through such an un- 
conscious life as the tree before self -consciousness asserted 
itself. 

The soul through evolution finally built a medulla 
oblongata to meet the necessities of its existence, and all 
the faculties of the mind have to be built out of its exis- 
tence. 

Life function is a chemical action of electrons. This 
unconscious mechanical process has greater capacities for 
expression than the conscious mind, for what could con- 
scious mind do in constructing the eye, a blood corpuscle, 
or any other part of the body? What conscious mind, by 
its own creative methods, could construct a lily or a tree ? 
The marvelous capabilities of the spirit in consciousness 
do not touch its capabilities in unconsciousness. The un- 
conscious intelligence of the soul is a constant marvel to 
the conscious intelligence, for the unconscious intelligence 
works without design, without plan, without knowing, and 
yet works with intelligence. 

What do we mean by mind. The word, mind, has 
been used in a very loose way by different thinkers. I 
have said that the spirit has the unconscious power to co- 
ordinate and the conscious power to co-ordinate, or the 
power to knowingly design and plan. 

Function is what a thing does. The function of the 
liver is to secrete bile ; the function of the heart, to regulate 
the circulation of the blood, and the function of the sub- 
conscious mind to build the body. If there is no body there 
is no conscious mind. The function of mind is not con- 
siousness, but mind is the function of consciousness, and 
it is the measure of the unfoldment of consciousness. 

The two optic thalami are the beds of sensation. 
Sensations, having reached the beds, pass on, through the 
thread-like nerve, to the corpora striata, and here is the 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 51 

seat of consciousness. Here the soul stands, sees, and, 
seeing, sends out a motor impulse, or stores up the sensation 
in the cells of the brain, or cerebrum. So, perception is 
consciousness, and mind, or the impulse, is the resultant 
of consciousness, and mind may act the moment the soul 
perceives, or it may store away its impressions in the store 
house, namely the sub-conscious memory. 

Man has five senses. Bodily sensibility is simply 
sensory nerve vibrations. There are sensory nerves and 
there are motor nerves. A motor nerve moves muscles ; a 
sensory nerve transmits vibrations both ways — to the mind 
and from the mind. Things perceived are in the mind; 
things in themselves are the things in nature. There is 
the mental thing and the objective thing. The objective 
thing, or thing outside me, is a conception of my mind. 
They have length, breadth and thickness, three dimensions 
of space. A shadow or a reflection from a mirror has only 
two dimensions, length and breadth. Real things have 
three dimensions. 

The spirit knew form from eternity or acquired it by 
evolution. It is intuition, or that which the spirit throws 
into the mind, independent of the senses. Plato called the 
intuitions or instincts of the mind, souls. The first instinct 
in the mind is the instinct of reproduction. Animal nature 
is as divine as spiritual nature. Animal birth is as divine 
as spiritual birth, as pure and beautiful as the ascent of 
an archangel to another celestial sphere. There is nothing 
vile in nature. Nature has no morals, no conduct to be 
criticised. Nature's laws are the laws of the infinite. 
Animal propensities, feelings and passions in man are there 
because they were planted by the reminiscent past on an 
unconscious mental sphere. The animal powers in the 
mind are tendencies and not thought-making faculties. 
What is dirt ? Merely matter out of place. What is evil $ 



52 NO, NOT DEAD; TREY LIVE 

Just thought and action in the wrong place. Kelativity is 
the determining factor of good and evil. Nothing in itself 
is either good or evil. A man may have a beautiful gold 
watch, but it may be a bad time-keeper. It is a bad watch. 
A cheap nickel watch may be a good time-keeper, but it 
is a good watch. That is a good thing which does the 
work for which it was designed. Morality is largely a 
question of geography. Man has always deemed that good 
which gave him pleasure and evil that which gave him 
pain. 



CHAPTER X 

Again, what and where is the soul ? Analyzing your- 
self, you will find that at first you appear to your 
consciousness under a double aspect. If looking at your- 
self from the outside you will see a material mass or body. 
But looking at yourself from within,, you will become 
aware of a being who feels, thinks and wills, a being which 
is an invisible centre, immaterial as we now understand 
material, but a spectator and judge of all that takes place 
around it. This dual aspect of the human being is 
expressed when one speaks of the "mind and the physical 
organs ' ' or the ' ' soul and body. ' ' This distinction is found 
in the two sciences treating of man, namely physiology, 
the science of the body, and psychology, the science of the 
soul or mind. As these two studies are so closely allied 
to each other the study of both is called psycho-physiology. 

The two master minds of ancient and modern philoso- 
phy, Aristotle and Descartes, considered the study of psy- 
chology and physiology most important. Aristotle defined 
the soul as "of form essential to the human frame" and 
he gave to the world the first samples of experimental 
psychology, such as sensation, sleep and memory. Des- 
cartes, in all his fine analytical work, associates bodily 
movements with the sentiments expressed or felt by the 
human heart, such as love, hate, desire, happiness, sorrow, 
and so forth. 

Psycho-physiology is that science which treats of the 
relationship between the soul and the operation of the 
physical organs. Anatomy is the separation, by means 
of dissection, of the various parts of a body for the purpose 
of examining them and determining the nature of their 
structure and their relations to one another. Physiology 

53 



54 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

is the science which treats of the functions, or operations, 
of the physical organs. 

What is spirit? What is soul? Is there any differ- 
ence ? The soul is the body of the spirit. Spirit could not 
exist without a body. The soul is built of matter, or elec- 
trons, in a higher state of vibration than the physical body. 
Spirit is made up of electrons in a high state of vibration, 
but not as high as the soul electrons. Spirit is intangible 
and unseen to mortal eyes, but the soul is visible to some 
individuals called psychic or mediums, whose power in 
this respect is called clairvoyance and clairaudience, or 
clear-seeing and clear-hearing. 

The soul is the body through which the spirit will 
manifest itself after the physical body is sloughed off at 
the change called death. This soul body will be perfect. 
Any physical imperfections here will not appear in the 
soul body. The physical body is made up of electrons in 
the lowest state of vibration, and can only take with it, 
or destroy, matter in a similar low state of vibration. 

The soul, being in a very high state of vibration, can 
pass through matter in a low state of vibration, such as 
stones walls, etc. There is no physical barrier to the soul 
and the spirit. The soul can be released from the physical 
body in hypnosis, or entrancement, and while under the 
influence of anaesthetics. 

The soul is a replica of the physical body to the 
minutest detail. It is so enmeshed with the physical as 
to appear to be an integral part of it, but it is imperishable 
and any injury to the physical body does not repeat itself 
in the soul or spirit body. We have, moreover, a soul 
within the soul ; or, in other words, as our clothing covers 
our physical body, and this clothing, when cast off, exposes 
our naked body, so at death we cast off the physical body, 
thus liberating the soul. So, there is another soul within 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 55 

soul or spirit body, awaiting the next step in progression. 
As we progress in the next life the manifesting instrument 
(soul) is discarded for a new one in a higher state of 
vibration than the one discarded, because the new soul 
must be suited to the environment in which it is to 
manifest. 

The spirit is the intangible, immortal part of man, 
namely his life principle. We are all spirits here and now, 
as much as we ever will be. But the spirit, to be localized 
and to operate, must have a body. Hence the soul. The 
essence of this life principle we cannot know any more 
than we can know the nature of God. We know the spirit 
only from its manifestations, just as we know God only 
from His works. 

Through our five senses, and their organs, we are 
brought into contact with the outer world. Consciousness 
through these senses results in mind, and the mind reasons 
and arrives at conclusions, and then the will, great dynamic 
power, puts the conclusions into effect. These senses the 
spirit carries into the other world. 

The brain is the physical mechanism through which 
the senses act, the sense organs and their nerves conveying 
the impressions to the brain, or power house. The brain 
cells act as a storehouse for sensations received, and the 
will draws upon the brain for its motive power, or reason 
for acting. 

Mind is not spirit. Mind is an instrument of the spirit. 
God is spirit, and yet He unquestionably manifests both 
mind and will. The finite mind cannot comprehend the 
Infinite Mind, and while we say the Infinite is a Fourth 
Dimensional Being, and not embodied, it may be that inas- 
much as spirit, as we see it here, needs a body to manifest 
itself, so God is embodied, or transcends, the visible uni- 
verse in a way that the finite mind cannot comprehend. 



56 NO, NOT DEAD; TEEY LIVE 

"While the finite mind cannot comprehend the infinite 
mind this much is apparent to us : The whole visible 
universe is throbbing with the spirit of God. From the 
tiny cell in the darkness of the womb to the mighty oak 
tree the spirit of God is in all and through all. In other 
words, omnipresent. And, remember, we are speaking 
now of only the earth, when, as a matter of fact, this earth 
is only one of a countless number of planets, most of 
which are probably inhabited. 

The planets, and the universes made up of planets, 
may be — nay, appear to be as countless as the sands of 
the seashore. And, let us repeat, God is in all of them, 
and through all of them. A stupendous thought, that 
should bring the scoffing materialist to his knees. 

Can there be any doubt of harmony of movement in 
all these universes ? Can harmony be accounted for except 
as evidence of a Great Directing Intelligence f Omni- 
present He is, beyond any doubt. 

Is God omniscient? He must be to see all His won- 
derful works. Like a human engineer, He must see all 
the mighty mechanism of the universe at work. Seeing 
all, there is neither time nor space to Him. 

Is God omnipotent? The question is answered by the 
evidence of His omnipresence, for in all His works we see 
Power in the form of harmonious action, and in results 
achieved. 

Is God an intelligent designer? In all creation there 
are no two leaves of the forest alike, no two insects alike, 
and no two human beings alike. Why this variety, you 
ask? God alone knows. It is not given us to fathom 
His purposes; our duty is to conform to His laws, and 
to His design for us. 

Consider this variety again: Remember that a dog, 
for instance, can distinguish his master's voice from thou- 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 57 

sands of other voices. An insect will call its mate, by the 
action of its wings, and be heard and understood among 
myriads of insects. Every insect, and every animal, has 
its odor, individual odor. 

Omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent, and yet, 
perhaps embodied in a personality that we shall never see 
nor understand. 



CHAPTER XI 

In studying the physical we should understand the 
nature of matter, to a minor degree at least. Science has 
perceived that matter is divided into a considerable num- 
ber of classes, or elements, namely oxygen, hydrogen, 
nitrogen, gold, argon, and so forth. There are known at 
this time to be ninety-three, more or less, elements, and 
science has found a harmonious relationship between these 
elements or classes — that they are not in conflict with one 
another but often combine, forming different materials or 
compounds. 

Space exists only because God's universe exists. Let 
all things revert to the first great cause and there will be 
no space. There will be no floor and no roof to things, 
but just the One Existant Something that was before there 
was a universe, namely the one single intelligence known 
as God. 

What, then, is matter? We cannot understand it by 
meditating on its great masses; we must search for its 
foundation, which is something we cannot see. The greater 
masses we see are but multiplications of the infinitesimal. 
We cannot think accurately in terms of the indescribably 
small electron. The smallest thing that exists is the elec- 
tron, and this is the foundation of all matter, matter and 
energy being one and the same thing. 

An effort to give the reader an idea of the electron 
as "the smallest thing extant" is made in a clever poem 
by George A. Beane, Jr., in an issue of Science and Inven- 
tion, of New York City. I reprint this poem in the appen- 
dix to this book, and I am sure it will amuse and edify 
my readers. 

58 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 59 

An electron is the smallest conceivable particle of 
matter known to science. It is a sphere charged with neg- 
ative electricity, and it revolves on its own axis around 
other electrons in an orderly manner and without touching 
any of them. A half-glassful of water will contain more 
electrons than the Atlantic Ocean has gallons of water. A 
pencil mark one inch long will cover or contain more elec- 
trons than one man could count in his lifetime. 

The proton is the nucleus of an atom. It is a charge 
of positive electricity. The atom was once thought to be 
the smallest conceivable particle of matter, but we now 
know that it is from fifteen hundred to two thousand times 
larger than the electron, and that it consists of a nucleus 
and one or more electrons. Thus a hydrogen atom con- 
sists of a nucleus and one revolving electron. A helium 
atom has four electrons, oxygen six, and gold has eighty- 
seven. If scientists could make the nucleus of the atom, 
and thus attract enough whirling electrons, they could 
produce any other element at will. All matter, or sub- 
stance, is composed of ninety-three different elements, 
more or less, and the only thing that makes one element 
different from another is the arrangement of the electrons 
in the atom. 

All matter consists of electric charges, which are not 
matter at all. All created things, including the human 
body, are merely electricity. Electrons and protons are 
charges of negative and positive electricity. Electrons 
form atoms, and atoms in the aggregate form molecules, 
which have, of their own latent power, generated all mat- 
ter, including your own personality and physical body. 

Electrons are charges of negative electricity, while 
protons are charges of positive electricity. Electrons 
whirl around the proton, or nucleus of the atom. Atoms 
whirl around other atoms, and form molecules, which 



60 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

whirl around other molecules. And yet a molecule is not 
over one-hundredth of a million part of an inch in diam- 
eter. Thus all whirling and vibrating things are energy, 
and, in my opinion, life or spirit itself is that latent power 
within the nucleus or proton of the atom. 

Now, mark this: If an electron is a charge of elec- 
tricity it is certainly not inertia, or lack of motion. There 
is no such thing in nature as inertia. An atom, breaking 
up, merely scatters the electrons composing it into other 
forms. For instance, water evaporating is disseminated 
into hydrogen and oxygen. In other words, the elements 
composing the water have not been destroyed. Ice melts, 
but we know that the elements composing it have not been 
destroyed. There is no inertia, and no loss of matter, in 
nature. 

Electrons whirl around one another. Hence there 
must be space between them, and as there is no void in 
the universe the space between electrons must be filled with 
ether in the form of electrons in a higher state of vibra- 
tion, but acting in the same orderly manner, around one 
another in orbits. 

So, we have electrons whirling around one another, 
then satellites around planets, then planets and their 
accompanying satellites around other planets and their 
satellites, and these in turn around suns, and finally uni- 
verses around other universes, until all creation is a 
whirling mass of energy. There is no standing still in 
nature, for standing still would mean perfection, and per- 
fection would mean non-progression. Hence we progress 
on and on, through the endless ages. If perfection were 
a truth we would no longer need God for we would know 
all things and could do all things. 

Science tells us that electrons determines the kind of 
material they form by their number and motion. Some 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 61 

electrons move at the speed of fifty thousand miles a sec- 
ond. They express themselves in polarization, in attraction 
and repulsion, which science calls the law of gravitation. 
This attraction and repulsion applies to the electrons in 
a lower state of vibration, and is transmitted through the 
surrounding ether, material spheres exercising a pull upon 
one another, and likewise repulsion to one another. It is 
this attraction and repulsion that keeps the planets sus- 
pended and whirling in space, one around the other. 

There are many grades of ether. The finer the ether 
the more minute the electrons, and the higher the speed 
of vibration, as the electrons revolve or whirl around one 
another in an orderly manner. I emphasize ORDERLY 
manner. That means that there is space between electrons, 
and space means another and finer ether. 

What do we mean by space or dimension? A line 
between two points has length. A pencil mark has length, 
breadth and thickness — in fact all matter has length, 
breadth and thickness. Science tells us that beyond these 
three dimensions there is a fourth. In other words, there 
is a dimension that cannot be expressed as length, breadth 
or thickness. When we form some conception of the 
fourth dimension we form some idea of the creative power 
of God. We cannot comprehend that creative power; we 
must accept the fact. 

Before there was a universe God existed. God was 
not living in a universe as there was none. He alone 
existed. But, if He was to create beings He must have 
some means of giving those beings individuality. Each 
life principle must be localized, and that called for a 
body, and the mechanism that would make that body 
possible. Then He would have to give that body a locality 
in which to move. What God did was done by command. 
There was no universe, no distance, no time. God willed 



62 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

that there be established a conception that would be unend- 
ing, and that conception was of a whirling centre of 
energy, the idea of a thing. That was an electron, and 
when there were two electrons there was distance, a here 
and a there. Now, multiply these electrons as far as your 
power of thought extends and you will see that each 
electron was according to God's will, being distant one 
from another because He gave each location. This concep- 
tion included also the rotation of each electron on its axis 
and its movement around the others. So time and space 
had their beginning. 

There is no void in the universe. All space is filled 
with ether. Between our earth and the most distant planet 
is ether. So the space between electrons is filled with 
ether, just as our earth and the most distant planet, both 
of which are made up of electrons in the lowest state of 
vibration. Our earth-world and all other worlds are held 
in position because they pass through ether which in turn 
is governed by polarization or gravity. 

God is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient 
because He is the fourth dimension, and so has neither 
length, breadth nor thickness. The omnipresence of God 
means that nothing exists except for God, that His con- 
ception gives all things existence, and that to Him there 
is no distance between objects because the objects are only 
His ideas. He commands that there be objects and the 
command coming from one creative force is instantly 
executed. It is all according to law. God cannot contra- 
dict Himself. 



CHAPTER XII 

What is an idea? God had an idea when He created 
the first electron, the first planet, the first sun, the first 
universe. I mean by the word idea the sum of the differ- 
ence between two sensations. Without sensation there can 
be no idea. With two sensations there is bound to be 
thought, and that thought will be one of contrast in time 
and place. Time is intuitive ; place is intuitive. Time and 
place are elemental ideas ; they belong to the soul ; they are 
two things. A thing has length, breadth and thickness, and 
it is in what is known as space. 

The Infinite is not a thing because it has no dimen- 
sions, no centre, no roof, no floor, no length and no width. 
The Infinite is unthinkable because it is not a thing. The 
mind can think only thought forms, and there are always 
two thought forms of the same thing. For example, the 
chair you sit upon is a thought form. Form is the real, 
and symbol is the expression. You know it is a chair 
because there is a chair like that in your mind, in your 
consciousness. The image of that chair is molecular, and 
the soul sees it in the brain, or optic thalami. The world 
you see, the buildings you see, the trees you see, are not 
the buildings and not the trees out there, but they are 
pictures in the brain, or optic thalami. The spirit sees 
the world in the cells of the brain. 

Form is an attribute of consciousness and time is an 
attribute of consciousness. The distance between two sen- 
sations is time, and their relationship to each other is place. 

The symbol, or expression, is the idea, or thought 
before it is put into form. Thought is the voice of the 
spirit, and will is the dynamic force that expresses that 
thought and puts it into form so it can make pictures in 

63 



64 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

the brain, or optic thalami as explained in the case of 
the chair and the trees. 

It is because some ideas, such as names for instances, 
have no symbolic meaning that disembodied personalities 
experience so much trouble in expressing them. Daisy is 
a flower, violet is a flower, rose is a flower, and each has 
a symbolic meaning, but many other names, such as John, 
James or Joseph, have no symbolic meaning, and hence 
the difficuty in expressing them. Information must be in 
our terms of understanding, but it should be remembered 
that the spirit world does the best it can through the 
medium of communication between it and us. 

God created all things by conception. That conception 
was an idea ; He willed it to be so and it was as He willed. 
We are reflections of God — made "in His image" we are 
told — and so we inherit His creative power, at least to a 
minor degree. Thus thought is the voice of the spirit, and 
is put into form by the dynamic force of the will. Will 
is to thought what powder is to the gun, or what a flash 
of lightning is to thunder. 

Conscious mind is conscious operation. The activity 
of consciousness and the subconscious in any personality 
is mind. The word mind, covers the operations of con- 
sciousness and the subconscious on any given thought, such 
as sensation, perception or ideation. Any presentation to 
consciousness is mind. Consciousness mind is function. 
Function is what a thing does. For example, the function 
of the liver is to secrete bile ; the function of the lachrymal 
glands is to secrete tears; the function of the salivary 
glands is to secrete saliva; the function of the lungs is to 
breathe; the function of the heart is to regulate the cir- 
culation of the bloood; the function of the brain is to 
create modes of coherent expression of the things in con- 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LITE 65 

sciousness. So, mind is the function of consciousness, and 
not consciousness itself. 

There are two kinds of mind, the conscious mind and 
the sub-conscious mind, called the transliminal mind and 
the subliminal mind. "When we speak of the "unconscious 
mind" we mean those operations of the selective and rejec- 
tive states apart from knowing. The function of the me- 
dulla oblongata is unconscious mind. The subconscious, 
or subliminal mind, is that mind that never sleeps and 
never misses anything, but is always awake. The medulla 
oblongata was at one time thought to be the seat of the 
soul. Unconscious mind was the animal soul described by 
Plato. In Plato's Speculations you are introduced to the 
animal soul, a term that once united metaphysical thinkers, 
but the science of today demands a more exact term and 
does not accept the science of Plato 's time. 

Up to the present day belief in the soul has been based 
on metaphysical distinctions and on revelations that 
claimed to be divine, but all were unproved. Religion, 
faith, sentiment, desire and fear offer no proofs of the 
existence of the soul. 

I have a body. It is not my body that has me. This 
consciousness of self is our impression and it is on the 
basis of our impressions that we can and must reason. 
Impressions are the foundation of all our reasoning. If 
thought were an emanation of the brain it would perish 
with the brain, but thought, the controlling power of the 
mind, is not matter or force. Thought reasons or creates 
things in accordance with a certain plan. Will, as already 
explained, is a powerful dynamic force that puts the thing 
in place after thought has reasoned, planned and created. 

This brings us to the question, what is it in us that is 
not our normal consciousness, but is our subconsciousness, 
or subliminal self, or spirit? The soul is unknown to sci- 



66 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

ence, but the fact that it exists cannot be denied by any 
who have investigated psychical phenomena without pre- 
conception or prejudice. We often say, "I have a body." 
It is not my body that has me. So, in speaking of our body 
in definite terms, we say body, soul and spirit. 

Among the positive sciences one recognizes no quality 
without matter. So, if the soul exists it is composed of 
matter and must occupy space. Thought has never been 
proved a result of brain action, nor the will a function of 
the brain. Then thought, will and mind are attributes of 
the soul, and the soul is composed of matter in a higher 
state of vibration than the body. The soul is encased in a 
luminiferous ether, which has been photographed at the 
moment of death. This luminiferous ether is to the soul 
what the skin is to the physical body. 

What and where is the life principle? It is dormant 
in the tiny blood corpuscle in animal life and in the seed 
in vegetable life. When given the needed conditions, 
namely heat, moisture and darkness, the life principle 
expands and starts to build up an individuality of its own 
after its kind, or an improvement on the same. So the 
life principle, or soul of man, locked in a tiny blood cor- 
puscle, one thirty-two hundredths of an inch in diameter, 
brings forth the infant child when the requirements are 
met, and that child grows and goes on to greater and 
greater development through all the ages to come. 

An electron, I have said, is a charge of negative 
electricity. So, electricity is independent of the electron, 
and without electricity to charge it the electron could not 
exist. The function of the electrons is to explode and 
liberate the energy locked within them. By their arrange- 
ment in the atom they form the basis for this or that form 
of matter. 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 67 

Materialists have long tried to reproduce life by arti- 
ficial means, but thus far they have found that they cannot 
do this without antecedent life. To produce life artificially 
would be to demonstrate that life was dependent on 
matter and that immortality is not a fact. In other words, 
if life can be produced from matter it must perish with 
matter. Science has not, and never will, be able to show 
just what life is. 

I have had ample proof, independent of matter, that 
my departed ones still live, and the evidence is as strong 
as could be asked by scientific men in their own material 
experiments, but, alas, most scientific men will not inves- 
tigate any but visible, material phenomena produced by 
their own combinations of matter. "None so blind as 
those who will not see." 

"We know that electrons enter into all matter, of every 
nature, but the why and wherefore we shall never know, 
any more than we shall ever know the nature of God. We 
know God from His wonderful works, and in the same way 
we know the electron. 



CHAPTER XIII 

The function of the brain is to create modes of coher- 
ent and consecutive expression of things in consciousness, 
and may be compared with the exchange where all impres- 
sions are received and sent out from the keyboard. In 
fact, the whole physical organism is an instrument through 
which the spirit operates, and the five senses are the means 
by which we are brought into contact with the outer world. 

Thought connects us with either the physical or the 
spirit life. It is more real than the impressions we get by 
means of our five senses, but it is not the result of brain 
function, as bile is the result of liver function. If it were 
not for thought we would not be individuals, but all would 
be inanimate matter, such as stone. 

Will is the dynamic force that puts thought into con- 
crete form. The dynamo, for instance, does not make 
electricity, but collects it and then conveys it through 
copper wires to given points. So thought is received by 
the brain and conveyed to a given point in concrete form 
through a medium more substantial than wires, namely 
ether. It is thrown out in what are called thought waves. 
Right here let me quote Roger W. Babson, president of 
the famous Babson Statistical Organization. He is one of 
the so-called ' ' cold-blooded business men, ' ' but in his very 
readable book, entitled ' ' Religion and Business, ' ' he says : 

''Some scientists believe that spiritual waves exist 
throughout the ether as do light waves and sound 
waves*****" 

Further on in his book he says : 

"Many psychologists believe that there are mental 
and spiritual waves, just as truly as there are light and 
sound waves. These psychologists believe that when we 

68 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 69 

think and concentrate we throw out thought waves, and 
these waves increase in intensity in accordance with our 
ability to concentrate. The Spiritualists carry this idea 
much farther. They believe that it is not only possible 
for the living to communicate without words, but that it is 
possible for the living and the dead so to communicate. 
Whether or not this is possible, space does not permit us 
here to discuss, but only an ignorant man would say that 
such a thing is impossible. The real forces of life are not 
found in material things, but are unseen and spiritual. ' ' 

Right here I think I had better make my definition of 
matter clearer, or rather enlarge upon it. Think for a 
moment upon this very simple proposition : A brick cannot 
pass through a brick, wood through wood, or steel through 
steel, from the fact that the electrons composing them are 
in the same state of vibration. But spirit matter, composed 
of electrons in a higher state of vibration, can pass through 
what we call material or physical matter. I hope this is 
clear to the reader. 

So, our loved ones in the spirit world — in the lower 
of the seven spheres of probation — can pass through our 
material bodies, but not while our spirit bodies are in our 
material bodies, their spirit body and our spirit body being 
in the same state of vibration. The higher the sphere the 
higher the state of vibration in the spirit body. Spirit 
body can pass through spirit body only on a different 
plane of vibration. 

We are spirits here and now, as much as we will 
ever be, but we — each of us — are clothed with a physical 
or material bodj 7 which is a counterpart of the spiritual, 
and vice versa. 

Our soul, or spirit body, has been variously called 
mind, ego, self, personality. The spirit is clothed in a body 
of luminiferous ether, and at the death of the physical 



70 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LITE 

body this ether leaves the body and lives independently 
of it. The soul, or ether, leaving the physical body at the 
death of the latter, has been seen and photographed, as I 
will show in this book, later on. 

The soul knows no physical barriers or matter, but 
passes readily through anything composed of electrons in 
a lower state of vibration. It can leave the physical body 
during natural sleep, or in the form of induced sleep we 
call hypnosis, or while the physical body is under the in- 
fluence of anaesthetics, such as ether, chloroform, etc. 

If the electrons forming one class of matter can pass 
through the electrons forming other classes of matter, that 
is if electrons in a higher state of vibration than the mate- 
rial of our earth world are invisible to us we find it less 
difficult for that very reason to believe that our loved ones 
in the spirit land can be very close to us without seeing 
them or hearing them, that is under ordinary conditions. 
We can also understand how it is possible for the individ- 
uals in a higher state of vibration to pass through our 
walls as though those walls did not exist. 

It is not unreasonable to accept the belief that we of 
the earth plane occupy the same space as the seven separate 
and distinct probationary spheres of spirit life, since mat- 
ter in higher states of vibration can occupy the same space 
as matter in lower states of vibration, and that the 
higher the vibration the greater the sense of solidity. In 
other words, our friends in the spirit land can walk through 
our material, or earthly bodies. This would not be possible 
except for two reasons. First, our bodies are the same 
grade of material as the earth. Second, the spirit bodies 
of our loved ones on the other side are of a finer grade of 
material, that is material in a higher state of vibration, 
Hence to us they are invisible and their world is invisible. 
Their state of vibration being higher the electrons com- 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 71 

posing their bodies and their world can, and most likely 
do, eo-exist with onr bodies and our world. That is to 
say the electrons composing our physical matter and the 
electrons composing spirit matter interlace or intermesh. 
This matter of spheres in the spirit world will be 
explained later in this book. 



CHAPTER XIV 

While I was pondering over my fruitless quest for the 
soul I became very much interested in the subject of will 
power, and that led me into Hypnotism. I had seen hyp- 
notic manifestations in theatres, for instance, sticking 
needles into the body of the person hypnotized, passing a 
needle through both lips and the tongue and tying all 
together. While these exhibitions were in a way shocking 
I felt that the hypnotic operator was merely toying with 
a great science. It seemed to me certain that these things 
were possible only because the will power, or ego, or soul, 
had left the body of the person hypnotized. 

Can any one stick needles into a person in a state of 
natural sleep? No. Why? Because although all the fac- 
ulties are asleep the ego is still connected with the physical 
body. Evidently, then, the hypnotic sleep is different. 

Before going into the various phases of Hypnotism I 
want to say that all my statements emanate from my own 
positive knowledge and demonstrations. I have not bor- 
rowed from any source. 

Hypnotism is as old as the world itself and its author 
was God. Read Genesis, second chapter and twenty-first 
verse : 

"And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon 
Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and 
closed up the flesh instead thereof." 

In this verse you see God employed Hypnotism as 
anaesthesia for the surgical act that preceded the creation 
of Eve. Let that from Scripture suffice for the present 
as an answer to the charge that Hypnotism is the work 
of the devil. 

72 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 73 

Hypnotism was preceded by Mesmerism and its dis- 
coverer was Dr. Franz Anton Mesmer, who was born in 
Germany in 1734. After attributing his cures to electrical 
and planetary powers he changed his views and attributed 
all to what he called Animal Magnetism. He was bitterly 
opposed by the "regular" members of his profession and 
driven into exile. He died in 1815. 

Mesmer 's ideas were taken up by Dr. Braid, of Man- 
chester, England, and, placing the cause upon a physical 
basis, he gained the confidence of the public and the physi- 
cians. The subject was finally admitted into the domain 
of the exact sciences and given the name of Hypnotism, 
from the Greek radix "hypnos," signifying sleep. So, 
Mesmer was vindicated, but, like most of the prophets, 
honored and respected only when he was dead. 

I want to clear away some popular misapprehensions 
about Hypnotism before I relate my own experiences. 1 
assert, and can prove, that Hypnotism cannot be made an 
agent for evil. No one can be hypnotized against his will, 
nor do anything against his fixed principles, nor reveal 
a confidence, nor indulge in any impure act. 

Hypnotism is a powerful brain-building agency and 
the day is coming when it will be taught in all our 
medical colleges. It is not always a state of sleep, but a 
state of suggestibility beyond the normal, and it may occur 
even though consciousness and memory remain unaffected. 
Hypnotism is the result of suggestion, but all suggestion 
is not Hypnotism. Properly defined, Hypnotism, is the 
quieting of the objective faculties and the stimulation of 
the subjective faculties. 

There is such a telepathic connection between the 
operator and the hypnotized person that the former can- 
not even think an improper thought without the hypno- 
tized person knowing it. Moreover, the hypnotized person 



74 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

has abnormal strength and is safe from any attack. Dr. 
John D. Quackenbos, of New York City, has said of the 
possibilities of Hypnotism : ' ' Better natures can be brought 
to the surface by it, criminal inclinations and desires 
removed, and generations yet unborn be influenced for the 
better." 

I want to qualify the statement as to the possibility 
of compelling the hypnotized subject to do something 
criminal or dishonorable. Many persons, especially those 
of a nervous temperament, come before the operator with 
the idea that he has some mystical or supernatural influ- 
ence. This is a very undesirable state of mind and really 
hinders the operator. 

The subjective mind of an individual is as amenable 
to suggestion by its own objective mind as by the objective 
mind of another person. Such self-suggestion is known 
as auto-suggestion. To illustrate, did you ever tell your 
sub-conscious mind you wished to awaken at a certain 
time? 

The state of reverie immediately preceding sleep is the 
best time for auto-suggestion. Then is the time to tell the 
sub-conscious mind that you WILL rid yourself of an evil 
or slavish habit. Repetition of the thought will make it a 
dominant idea and eventually transform the person exer- 
cising this auto-suggestion. The sub-conscious mind never 
sleeps, is always on the alert and never misses anything. 
Take a person who has just gone through an art gallery 
and notice how little he can describe from memory. Now, 
hypnotize him and question him, and you will be surprised 
to see how little the objective mind saw as compared with 
the subjective mind. It is the subjective mind that pre- 
vents^ — instinctively prevents, we say — the objective mind 
from doing foolish or criminal things. 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 75 

Mrs. Eddy, with her Christian Science, teaching that 
disease is merely thought and not material, forgets that 
man is in a material house (the body) and subject to God's 
immutable law. Such objective thought as Mrs. Eddy 
recommends impresses the automatic self with belief in 
the balderdash but fails to cure tumors, deformity and 
disease. Mrs. Eddy's book is merely a stimulator of auto- 
suggestion. 

Auto-suggestion is the great psychological miracle and 
few realize the part it plays in our lives. It governs 
physiological changes; regulates the number of births 
among intellectual people ; renders immune from disease 
or prepares the soil for the reception of bacilli ; it changes 
non-contagious into contagious diseases ; overcomes physical 
defects and perpetuates comeliness and youthful feeling. 
It is the medium of utterance for hereditary tendencies. 
It is the hidden power of the mother's kiss, dispelling the 
woes of childhood. It explains the accomplishment of 
seemingly impossible feats. It is the "I won't die" that 
makes a man live many years of usefulness when the 
physician has given him but a short time to live. It is the 
channel through which genius finds expression. 

A physician in some cases is only a satisfaction to the 
mind — that is, he is a suggester. Every physician knows 
that ailments that are real, or due to pathological changes 
in organs and tissues, are in the minority compared to 
those that are imaginary or the result of auto-suggestion. 
The successful physician is the one that understands this 
great truth, the power of mind over matter. The gaze, 
the imposition of hands, the passes, or even the breath, 
will produce contraction, relaxation, excitation or paralysis 
of the vital functions, as well as the intellectual faculties, 
because the organs serve as a vehicle for the transmission 



76 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

or nerve-radio activity, or magnetism, from one nervous 
system to another. 

In producing hypnosis it is practically impossible to 
tell a priori which is the part played by suggestion and 
which by magnetism. In my opinion, magnetic radio- 
action, or nerve-radio activity, exists as surely as the radio 
activity of light, heat and electricity. 



CHAPTER XV 

A little digression right here, as to many curious, 
seemingly unbelievable, but positively true and demon- 
strable manifestations, or rather possibilities, of Hypno- 
tism. 

Animals may be hypnotized. Certain plants, having 
been treated by means of passes of the hands, will show a 
perceptible increase of growth. Other plants, in a perish- 
ing condition, can be revived, and fruit trees can be made 
to bear one month sooner than trees not so treated. Even 
water can be given curative powers when treated by passes, 
or, in other words, when it is magnetized. 

Telepathy is thought transference from one person to 
another by exercise of the will. The subject divines, reads 
and understands the thoughts of another although the 
thoughts may not have been verbally expressed. Roger W. 
Babson, already referred to, says in his book, "Religion 
and Business," "Many experiments have been tried in 
which a person who is able intensely to concentrate can 
enter a room and make another know just what the first 
is thinking about***** Although such things have been 
very much abused, yet without doubt there are great pos- 
sibilities in telepathy and similar studies." Many years 
ago, Mark Twain, at the beginning of his career, wrote 
and had published an article on some discoveries he had 
made in thought transference, and while he said his article 
would be ridiculed (and it was) he predicted that some 
day, perhaps long after his death, thought transference 
from one person to another, without the aid of speech, 
would be an established fact and accepted by everybody. 

77 



78 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

Clairvoyance is the seeing of objects at a distance 
without using your visual organs. I shall go into this 
later. 

Transmission of sensations is when the hypnotized 
person experiences all the sensations felt by the operator. 
She drinks, in imagination, when he drinks, and tastes the 
sugar, or salt, or vinegar, he places in his mouth. 

Side by side with the material world there is a psychi- 
cal world, the reality of which is as certain as that of the 
visible world, and that these two worlds interpenetrate. 

That part of our being which belongs to the psychic 
world has all the senses that the physical possess, but also 
has senses of its own; that "one soul can perceive an- 
other." 

Souls either in the flesh or those of the so-called dead 
exists in the form of intangible, invisible substance, which 
the physical eyes do not perceive, nor our material hands 
touch, nor our carnal senses are aware of except in extraor- 
dinary circumstances. Therefore the souls of the living 
or the so-called dead, act upon other souls of the living 
and thence upon the brain, and motor impulses are sent 
out through the various channels in accordance with the 
perceptions received. Hence it is very readily understood 
what at first seemed to be miraculous fades into insignifi- 
cance, when we understand how the thoughts and desires 
of one soul can impress another soul, and in turn the 
brain is acted upon and those thoughts become actualities. 

The souls of our departed may be able at times to act 
through our soul, and thence upon our brain and thus 
enable us to see them as we have known them, with their 
clothing, their bearing, their movements, and in fact their 
individualities. 

Hypnotism may be a passive state of the mind, or a 
complete trance. In both states he or she is receptive to 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 79 

suggestions. Trance is a complete disassociation of the 
conscious with the subconscious mind, leaving an open 
avenue to the subconscious for suggestion. Auto sugges- 
tion is the influence of the imagination upon the moral 
and physical being of mankind. 

Unexpectedly, I was enabled to give a striking dem- 
onstration of the transmission of sensations in the person 
of a young man who accepts Christian Science as his re- 
ligion. He is about twenty-seven years of age and employed 
by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. While in a 
hypnotice trance, eyes completely closed, he could taste 
and would name the articles placed upon my tongue such 
as sugar, salt, pepper, etc., at a distance of about ten feet. 

A casual visitor, in the person of the Camden city 
fireman spoken of elsewhere in this book, was talking idly 
with me and two members of my family, in my office, 
when I remembered that he was susceptible to suggestion, 
although above the average in intelligence. I said to him : 
"John, will you have a drink?" He replied laughingly, 
"Yes, if you can make it the old stuff," and he named a 
certain brand of whisky. I poured him a glassful of water 
from a pitcher at hand, and said to him impressively, 
"There it is!" He drank it, smacked his lips and said, 
"That's it!" He declined to take any more, saying he 
had to go to work the next day, but he finally said he 
would take a glass of sherry wine, and he drank another 
glass of water, believing it was sherry wine because of 
the suggestion in my words "There it is!" He drank 
still another glass of water, believing it was claret, and, 
inasmuch as he said he did not like claret, he made a wry 
face when he drank it. The whisky and the wines had 
their natural coloring according to his perception. He 
finally left my office seemingly half -intoxicated, although 
he had not drank anything but water. This statement of 



80 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

mine may be ridiculed or questioned, but I have credible 
witnesses to it. 

I want to say here, and reverently, that many of the 
New Testament miracles, and perhaps all of them, for 
instance when our Lord converted water into wine, may 
be explained some day as mere instances of suggestion, 
and I want to call attention to the presence on many occa- 
sions of Peter, James and John as witnesses, or, as we would 
say today, they were selected by our Lord for their won- 
derful psychic or mediumistic power. A careful reading 
of the Master 's words, when He performed his ' ' miracles ' ' 
of raising from the dead, will show beyond doubt, that 
neither Lazarus, or the daughter of Jairus were dead, but 
in a hypnotic trance. This need not detract in any way 
from the reverence due Him as the Greatest of Men, but 
it may give us a glimpse of the vast unfoldment of spir- 
itual truths to come from a better understanding of His 
words. 

Transmission of the will is possible — that is the sub- 
ject obeys the will of the operator, with some exceptions. 

The old-time mesmerists described a peculiar phe- 
nomenon which they called transposition of the senses. 
They maintained that in certain cases of somnambulism 
any of the five senses could be transferred or transposed. 
Thus the organs of touch could be made to exert the same 
functions as those of sight or hearing. The somnambulist, 
therefore, could hear through the pit of his stomach or see 
through his finger tips. Cesare Lombroso tells us of a 
fourteen-year-old girl who, although she had lost the use 
of her eyes, could see with the point of her nose and the 
lobe of her ear. Her sense of smell was transferred to a 
point under her chin and later to the back of her foot. 
All very remarkable, but before the reader says "Foolish" 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 81 

let him, or her, remember the authority, namely Cesare 
Lombroso. 

Even sleep can be produced at a distance without the 
slightest knowledge or suspicion on the part of the sub- 
ject. This can be effected by the will of the operator, who 
may be out of sight and mind, and at a great distance 
from the subject. Of course, the subject can be aroused 
from sleep by the will of the operator and put to sleep 
again by the will of the operator. 

Animal magnetism may be classed under the head of 
Hypnotism. It is a force analogous to that radiated by an 
ordinary magnet. Hence the name, animal magnetism. 
In other words, certain human beings exert, beyond the 
visible limits of their own organism, radiating influence 
more or less comparable to that of the source of heat, light 
or electricity. This radiating influence often radiates from 
the hand, and when directed upon the nervous system of 
a subject it often causes, and unconsciously to him, the 
various phenomena of anesthesia, muscular contraction, 
involuntary movements, etc. When this action is brought 
upon the brain sleep is produced. 

This radiating influence is not common to all persons. 
In some persons it is so insignificant as to be almost noth- 
ing. So, we have the radiating class and the non-radiating 
class (or the active and the passive). From this it will 
be seen that human beings are divided into two groups 
or classes from the point of " receptibility, " namely, first, 
the conductors or permeable persons, who are in the ma- 
jority, and, second, the non-conductors, or insulated, who, 
being impermeable, stop or repel the influence. This is 
why some persons can be hypnotized while others cannot 
be hypnotized although anxious and willing to be so influ- 
enced. 



82 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

Since human radiations do not produce any apparent 
effects when directed upon material objects it is, of course, 
to be understood that such radiations are diffused and lost 
through the field of surrounding material objects with 
which they are in rapport or state of absolute eonducti- 
bility. 

My own experience in Hypnotism has been more than 
satisfactory. I have been amazed at the results I obtained 
while witnesses wondered whether they could accept the 
evidence in plain view of them. Much of it was so un- 
natural that it seemed like a dream or sheer foolishness. 
For instance, members of the Camden Aerie of Eagles 
will remember how I hypnotized a man in their building 
a few years ago, how I partially suspended some of his 
physiological functions, while another physician drew all 
the water from his bladder, and how he lay asleep in their 
Broadway window all one afternoon, the following night 
and all the next day until about 8 P. M., when I awakened 
him in the Broadway Theatre in the presence of physicians 
who examined him and found that some of his physiolog- 
ical functions had been partially at rest. The Eagles will 
remember that the physicians found that only two table- 
spoonfuls of water had accumulated in the bladder of the 
hypnotic subject in twenty-four hours. 

The Eagles will also remember that while I stood across 
Broadway from the window containing the hypnotized 
man I ordered him, without a spoken word but solely by 
power of my will, to awaken, rise up and face me, and then 
lie down in the same position as before, and he did just 
as I ordered him. , 

The members of the Camden Lodge of Elks will re- 
member how I hypnotized a well-known member of the 
Camden Fire Department in their club house, and how I 
stuck a four-inch hydrocele needle through and in various 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 83 

parts of his body without pain to him and without drawing 
blood, how I gave him capsicum and told him it was ice 
cream and how he smacked his lips over it. These and 
other hypnotic feats of mine are well known to responsible 
men in Camden and elsewhere. 

I hypnotized this fireman and seated him at a table 
with six other persons. I then took some blank cards, 
had all the witnesses examine them, and then, to exclude 
a charge of telepathy or thought transference, I told the 
hypnotized man that each card bore a picture. After 
some hesitation he named some particular man as being 
pictured on each card, with the exception of one card 
which, he said, bore the picture of a horse. One card he 
called "William MeKinley, another card he called Theo- 
dore Roosevelt, and so on. I then had the witnesses make 
a private mark on each card, but the result was the same, 
the hypnotized man giving each card the name he had 
given it before. The cards were shuffled repeatedly, but 
always the hypnotized man gave each card the name he 
had given it before except when he hesitated over one card 
and then said "This is William MeKinley upside down." 
My explanation of this phenomenon is that the man 's own 
spirit, or subliminal self, conceived the portraits and by 
means of the will, as a dynamic power, projected the por- 
traits upon the blank cards, using the physical body to 
announce the names of the portraits. This verifies what 
I have said, in another chapter, about "thoughts being 
things. ' ' 

I asked this same fireman upon another occasion to 
go in spirit to a place unknown to me and tell me and all 
the other witnesses present what he saw there. Here is 
the way this was done: The fireman and nine others were 
in my office. I hypnotized the fireman and then sent eight 
of the witnesses into the back yard where they were to 



84 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

agree upon a place to be visited in spirit by the hypno- 
tized man. The remaining witness stayed in the office with 
me and the hypnotized man. The eight witnesses in the 
back yard agreed upon a place and called me out there. 
They told me in a whisper of the place to which they 
wanted me to send the spirit of the hypnotized man. The 
place was a house in a town in Pennsylvania, neither of 
which I had seen, and have not seen to this day. In fact 
only one of the witnesses had ever seen the place and he 
was the owner of the house. 

Returning to the office with the eight witnesses, I told 
the hypnotized man to go to the house named and tell us 
all he saw there. I and all the other witnesses noted the 
time of night when the hypnotized man began and gave 
us a detailed description of the house and its contents, 
from front door to garret, and the next day this descrip- 
tion was verified to the letter, although the owner of the 
house had said at the time that the hypnotized man was 
undoubtedly right about the contents. The next day, veri- 
fying the hypnotized man's description, the owner said 
he had found that the description was right to the last 
detail cited, even to the people present in the house. 

I once asked this fireman to go to a certain house in 
Camden which, I know, is occupied by a man of low spir- 
itual development, a man who brow-beats his family, ridi- 
cules religion, says there is nothing beyond the grave, and 
is evil-minded generally. I asked the fireman to describe 
the contents of this house, and I have repeatedly asked 
him to do so, always having him at such times under hyp- 
notic influence, but he invariably answers that he is unable 
to enter the house because of a dark cloud hovering like 
a wall around it. Telepathy must be excluded in this case 
because the daughter of the irreligious man sat facing the 
hypnotized man when I asked him to describe the con- 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 85 

tents of her home, and he himself had been in the house. 
I also had been in the house more than fifty times and was 
well acquainted with the arrangement of the furniture. 

This last-described case of mine proves to me that like 
attracts like, that evil spirits resist the good, while the good 
spirits seek those of their own sphere. This shows that 
there are grades of society in the spiritual world as there 
are in the material or rather this earthly world. Inciden- 
tally, this tallies with what the Scriptures teach about both 
good and evil spirits, as I will show later on. 



CHAPTER XVI 

Telekinesis is the term Spiritualists use when they 
speak of physical phenomena without human agency. In- 
experienced persons, when told of this sort of phenomena, 
attribute it to muscular contraction, animal magnetism or 
some hidden mechanical contrivance. Right here, at the 
beginning, I will say that these manifestations never occur 
unless there is a medium present, and it is not necessary 
that the medium have his or her hands on the table, but, 
on the contrary, may sit at some distance from the table. 
Moreover, the medium may be unconscious of his or her 
power and the power may be unknown to any of the other 
sitters around the table. Nevertheless, there is a medium 
present when these things take place. 

The method of getting these manifestations is simple. 
I use a wooden table, made of white pine, and unpainted. 
It is all open underneath, so open that a skeptic has held 
a flashlight under it and looked while the table jumped, 
and there were raps under, apparently, its top. Of course 
he saw nothing and was mystified. He was even more 
mystified when the table jumped at him alone, pinned him 
against the wall and then jumped away from him as vio- 
lently as it had jumped at him. Two other sitters had 
their finger tips only on the table at this particular time 
while the medium sat ten feet away. 

As to the argument that animal magnetism will ex- 
plain the phenomena: My table sometimes has rubber tips 
on its feet and sometimes it is without them, but it makes 
no difference whether the table is insulated in this way, 
and there is no difference when any other piece of furni- 
ture is used for the manifestations, with or without rubber 
tips on its feet. 

86 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 87 

I have heard, and scores of my friends have heard, 
all sorts of noises coming from the table during a seance 
in my house. The light sometimes was subdued and some- 
times was at full head. We have heard the tiniest pin 
scratch and then thunderous sledge-hammer blows, the 
noise of the sawing of wood, of a ship warping its way 
into a dock, of a boat pounding in a stormy sea, and of a 
steam engine running at great speed. 

The spirits manifesting themselves in this way some- 
times use the Morse telegraphic code in giving their mes- 
sages, even when no one at the table is an operator. They 
beat a tattoo on a drum, and one such manifestation pur- 
ported to come from my infant son. The surrounding 
circumstances were such that I believed, and still believe, 
that it did come from my son. 

I have seen the table lift a young woman right up in 
the air, and in a brightly-lighted room at that. It has 
lifted me, and I weigh one hundred and ninety pounds. 
I should like those of my skeptics who think their animal 
magnetism will explain this phenomenon to lift me and a 
table without touching either table or me with their hands 
in any way. 

I have seen a light, like a tiny electric light, travel 
across the table, I have felt invisible hands touch my face, 
and other sitters, some of them skeptics, have also felt 
invisible hands. I have seen hairpins taken from a 
woman's hair and thrown upon the table. 

I have had wonderfully truthful messages, and many 
others have had wonderfully truthful messages in my pres- 
ence, the spirits using the alphabet in a numerical way, 
giving one rap for the letter A, two raps for B, and so on. 
Usually, in answering questions, the spirits use one rap for 
"No;" two raps for "Don't know," and three raps for 
"Yes." The spirits will sometimes rap on any piece of 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 



furniture as requested, and often far away from all the 
sitters. They will sometimes rap as often as requested and 
as loudly as requested. 

Sometimes, with all the sitters in sympathy and anx- 
ious for demonstrations, there are no results. Why we 
do not know, but in all probability the spirits are busy in 
their own sphere, for spirit-land is not an idle place. 

Some skeptics say that mental concentration will pro- 
duce these results for any earnest group. That is a wilder 
assertion than any made by a Spiritualist, but if it is true 
why do we not hear of these phenomena as common oc- 
currences at social parties? 

Then some say "When there are several mediums 
seated at a banquet table why doesn 't it move ? ' ' Because 
there is a time and place for everything. Again, it is said 
"I have sat and waited with others, but heard nothing." 
Of course you heard nothing. You are and were a skeptic, 
and the spirits do not like to be trifled with any more 
than you do. If you had been in a receptive frame of 
mind, and had earnestly asked for evidence, you would 
have heard something, but you went there to scoff and you 
got nothing. You do not care to talk with people who you 
know will ridicule everything you say to them. Why ask 
the spirits to give you serious messages and then treat 
the spirits as if they were fools? 

If people would give as much attention to this matter 
as they do to preparations for a journey, and would sit 
down as seriously as they do to a game of cards, and have 
a reputable medium present, they would be convinced, 
and they would learn of many things that would profit 
them in this world and the next world. Trifling will not 
get any of us anywhere in the journey of life here and it 
will not get us in touch with those in the spirit life. Life 
is not a joke ; it is a gift, a blessing, a trust, and we shall 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 



reap hereafter as we sow here. All I know of Spiritualism 
tells me this truth — awful truth to some and blessed and 
consoling truth to others. 

In fifteen years I have never found a reliable profes- 
sional medium. Ninety-five per cent of the professional, 
and advertising, mediums are fakers in my judgment. All 
I have learned about Spiritualism I got in my own home, 
under conditions laid down by myself as a rule and through 
mediums I knew to be honest. Moreover, these mediums 
were in my home, using my furniture, and were observed 
by persons like myself, open-minded but insisting upon 
being shown. Two classes of investigators should be 
avoided, the over-credulous and the over-skeptical. I shall 
be glad to hear from any reader of this book who is willing 
to investigate along these lines, and I will tell him or her 
how to proceed. I shall not make any charge for this 
service, of course, but shall congratulate myself upon get- 
ting the opportunity to open the door of hope — yes, of 
absolute certainty to the bereaved. 

I am reluctant to leave the subject of Telekinesis be- 
cause the phenomena to be included under this head are 
so strange and incredible to the average person that they 
require the strongest sort of proof of something besides 
human causes. 

During a sitting in my home, with five persons present, 
including the medium, W. M., the table rose up in the air 
and passed over our heads and dropped down upon the 
floor in another part of the room without any of our hands 
upon it at any time. This was done in total darkness but 
all present had joined hands, and every hand was accounted 
for. If the reader is doubtful about this incident what is 
to be said of the following : On another occasion the table 
rose into the air over our heads and all five of the sitters 
were unable to force it to the floor. It felt as if it were 



90 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

resting on a cushion of air, and while it was suspended 
over our heads there were raps upon it, while it was out 
of the reach of our hands. 

At another time I said that either all of us were hyp- 
notized or none were, and then I asked the spirit control 
of the medium present, who claimed to be an Indian calling 
himself "Sioux," to break the table into fragments. It 
was done and, the lights being turned up, the fragments 
were found. While this was done in darkness every hand 
of the sitters was accounted for. I then proposed that we 
meet the next day in the same room to see whether the 
table really was broken into fragments, and we all left 
the room together. I locked the door and gave the key 
to the husband of the medium. The next day, when cer- 
tainly we were not hypnotized for we had all come from 
business, we met at the room, unlocked the door and found 
the table fragments just as we had seen on the previous 
evening. 

I asked the spirit control in raps who was the medium 
present and I got an answer in raps telling me that W. M. 
was the medium. She had been and was then unconscious 
of her power. I have seen her sitting away from the table, 
like all the other sitters, and yet in view of all of us, for 
there was dim light, a zither on the table was played by 
unseen hands. 

My experiences in Levitation were not unusual or 
would not be considered unusual by other honest investi- 
gators. Hereward Carrington, who began as a paid expert 
to expose Spiritualism and became a believer in the phe- 
nomena against his will, says in one of his books that ■ ' The 
scientific explanation does not take into account, or attempt 
to explain, any cases where the table has been raised off 
the floor without contact, and there are very many such 
instances on record. How are such phenomena to be ex- 



NO, NOT DEAD; TREY LIVE 91 

plained ? It is useless to deny them as that does not satisfy 
any fair-minded man." 

Sir William Crookes, the famous English scientist, 
held the hands of a medium upon a table while a drum in 
the centre of the table rattled out a tattoo without human 
contact of any kind. This and scores of similar, and even 
stronger, manifestations may be found in the reports of 
the proceedings of the British Society for Psychical Re- 
search. Moreover, it should be remembered that these 
things happened in the presence of men who did not begin 
as Spiritualists but, on the contrary, as skeptical scientists 
who, nevertheless, were fair enough to honestly investigate. 
These men, brave and noteworthy exceptions to the general 
run of scientific men, went at the task of investigation with 
a disposition to scoff but they remained to wonder and 
pray. Their name is legion, and I shall quote many of 
them later on, in this book. 

Unlike the Seybert Commission, conducted by the 
University of Pennsylvania some years ago, these scien- 
tists imposed severe test conditions upon all the mediums 
coming before them. The Seybert Commission called for 
known fakers and then allowed them to display their 
tricks without restriction, and of course the report of the 
Commission ridiculed Spiritualism, and the Commission 
incidentally used up twenty thousand dollars left them by 
a dying man upon condition that it should be used in an 
honest investigation of Spiritualism. The attitude of the 
Sanhedrin that condemned Christ to crucifixion! As 
Lowell said: 

"Truth forever on the scaffold; "Wrong forever on 
the throne." 



CHAPTER XVII 

Why are these things confined to darkness or partial 
darkness, some of my readers may say. They are not, is 
my answer, but the reason for the prevalence of darkness 
is that nature elsewhere calls for darkness while working 
great changes or bringing forth apparently new manifes- 
tations. It is not for us to limit nature, or Providence, or 
God, by our finite minds, but to accept what is given us 
and adapt it to our good. Instead of the cocksureness of 
the "half-baked" scientist, the idea that we know it all, 
the bravado of Ajax defying the lightning, we need the 
humility of the Psalmist who said : 

"What is man that Thou art mindful of him?" 

One professional medium, D. D. Home, was never 
found guilty of fraud in any of his seances, and yet he 
always insisted upon full light. All his revelations of 
spirit control were made in full light, and he never used 
a cabinet of any kind. Even enemies of Spiritualism who 
saw his performances conceded that he was honest and that 
everything he did was without any physical act on his part. 
He always sat in the circle, side by side with the other 
sitters. His powers as a medium showed themselves when 
he was a child and his family, thinking he was playing 
tricks, turned him out to earn his own living. It is not 
likely that he would have persisted with his "tricks" if 
tricks they were, under such punishment. As a man he 
wrote a book, "Lights and Shadows of Spiritualism," in 
which he exposed the frauds practiced by most profes- 
sional mediums. 

Under Home an accordion floated in the air, in full 
light, while music came from it. The accordion, being 
placed under a table by Home, began to play and move 

92 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 93 

about after he had withdrawn his hands from it and placed 
them above the table. A luminous hand was seen playing 
it. It moved to the feet of one of the sitters and then to the 
lap of another sitter. 

To make this accordion test more conclusive Sir Wil- 
liam Crookes devised a wire cage in which the accordion 
was placed, beyond the reach of any human hands, and yet 
unseen powers played upon it and moved it about. 

During a trance Home was carried out of one room, 
in a horizontal position, by some unseen power, and car- 
ried into another room, through an open window. This 
window was seventy feet above the ground and was open 
only eighteen inches. Home was clearly seen to float as 
if he were floating on his back in the water. 

At another time he was seen to rise off the floor while 
he was standing, and again he and the chair on which he 
was sitting were seen to rise in the air. He grew taller 
right before all the sitters, and did many other wonderful 
things. 

The theory of hypnotism for Home's performances 
has been thoroughly discussed, and dismissed, for all who 
were present at his seances, and many fair students since, 
ridicule the idea of a whole company being hypnotized 
or hallucinated when many of the company were known 
to be avowed skeptics of any spirit control explanation 
for Home's performances. That is, they were skeptical 
until they saw his performance. 

Thinking of the luminous hand playing Home's 
accordion, I am reminded that sitters at a seance in my 
house, with M. J. as the medium, have seen luminous sil- 
houettes of departed persons upon the walls of the room 
and upon their own bodies, luminous and moving silhou- 
ettes or shadows. A pale phosphorescent figure has been 
seen sitting upon a vacant chair in my house during one 



94 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

of M. J. 's seances. My dead wife 's arm, with fingers mov- 
ing and her wedding ring visible, has been seen by all the 
sitters during one of M. J.'s seances. My own daughter 
has seen her mother's arm and felt it across her back. 

In line with what I have said about materialization, 
I refer my readers to the statement of Mr. J. D. Beresford, 
in an article on ' ' More New Facts in Psychical Research, ' ' 
in the March, 1922, issue of Harper's Magazine. Mr. Ber- 
esford makes this startling statement: 

"Lastly, Marthe Beraud has lately been the instru- 
ment of new and intensely interesting phenomena, as she 
has been able to materialize the perfect body of a tiny, 
nude woman, which moved with all the material actions 
of life, was visible to the whole circle, and stood for a few 
moments on the hand of one of the sitters. This amazing 
phenomenon was described at length by Madame Bisson 
at the Copenhagen Congress last August." 

In conclusion of his article Mr. Beresford says: 
' ' I had been lecturing to the London Spiritualist Alli- 
ance in London, a lecture in which I had made some fairly 
stringent criticisms of my hearers' attitude. But when 
the lecture and ensuing discussion were concluded several 
members of the audience came up to speak to me, and it 
was then that for a few minutes I seemed to be actively 
aware of the truth of survival. It was not the things these 
people were saying that swayed me, but their faith. I 
could maintain my side of the purely intellectual argu- 
ment in any discussion of proofs. Yet I felt an inner 
conviction that in some way or another they knew. ' ' 

M. J., the medium referred to above, is a young widow 
whose spirit powers have astounded one of the best-edu- 
cated and well-balanced professional men in Camden. 
Through M. J. I was told in advance of an accident to me, 
but I forgot the prediction and the accident happened 
exactly as foretold, and I was hurt while my automobile 
was badly damaged. 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 95 

I will relate the accident as it happened, and in every 
detail it tallied with the prediction which I failed to re- 
member. I was in my automobile at 11.30 P. M., on De- 
cember 9, 1920, at Thirtieth and Market Streets, Philadel- 
phia, when a motor car belonging to a Lancaster Avenue 
business man ran into the rear of my automobile. I had 
stopped my car and risen to my feet to wipe off my wind- 
shield, as my companion in the car had suggested, when 
my automobile was violently rammed in the rear. My 
automobile was thrown forward about thirty feet and I 
was thrown against the rear window, breaking the glass 
with my forehead and chin. I was badly cut over both 
eyes and my mouth was lacerated, while my eyeglasses and 
hat were thrown through the window and later found in 
the street by a bystander. There is a record of this acci- 
dent at the Presbyterian Hospital, in Philadelphia, where 
I told them of the prediction, and of the spirit's warning, 
through M. J., not to stop my car "because it will be a 
lure to death if you do." I recovered full damages for 
the injuries but I did not appear against the motor car 
driver and the case against him was dropped. 

This accident occurred exactly three days after the 
prediction and in every detail as given to me by M. J. in 
a trance. But, the reader will say, why did you stop when 
you had been warned not to do so? I answer that the 
advice to wipe the sleet and snow off my windshield was 
good advice for I could not see where I was driving. More- 
over, I was so intent on the stormy conditions about me 
that I did not think of the prediction given me three nights 
before. 

An unusual form of mediumship came to my notice 
recently, and my experiments were verified by more than 
a dozen witnesses. This medium was Miss Hazel Hurd 
Ridley, of Buffalo, N. Y. I found that the voice proceed- 



96 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

ing from her, while in a trance, came from her larynx 
alone, while her month, lips and tongue did not func- 
tionate, which is the usual case when producing vocal 
sounds or spoken words. Ventriloquism could not account 
for this because I filled her mouth with water and then 
with salt, and still the voice came through without in- 
terruption or impediment. "With her mouth empty, the 
voice still came, and a mirror placed a few inches from 
her lips did not show the slightest trace of moisture. This 
is a case where the spirits using her as a medium employ 
her larynx to project their voices, and so unquestionably 
prove the genuineness of the phenomena. I also punc- 
tured her arm while she was in a trance and although I 
drew blood she did not feel any pain. 

A prominent Judge of my acquaintance was told by an 
illiterate girl of sixteen, in one of her trances, not to take 
a proposed trip to Pittsburgh because of a terrible accident 
that would occur. The girl had no knowledge of the 
Judge's intention to go to Pittsburgh, and when he asked 
her who was sending him the message she said, "Your sis- 
ter." This amused the Judge so much that he laughed 
and said, ' ' I never had a sister. ' ' But, later, when he told 
his old mother of the prediction, she said, "The girl was 
right. I never told you that I had twin children, a boy 
and a girl, die the day they were born. If the twin girl 
were living she would be just forty-two years old, as the 
medium told you." A few days later, to the Judge's 
amazement, the accident, a smash-up on the railroad, oc- 
curred just as the girl medium had predicted and to the 
very train the Judge had proposed to take. The Judge has 
never openly avowed his belief in Spiritualism but to all 
who criticise Spiritualism he smiles and says, "Tell me 
how to explain that experience of mine." And he relates 
other amazing experiences of his and says, "I cannot see 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 97 

any explanation but that if discarnate spirits, and I believe 
that we are on the verge of marvelous discoveries concern- 
ing death and the state thereafter." 

For other wonderful predictions of mediums I refer 
the reader to several standard books from which I shall 
quote, including "The Psychic Riddle," by the late Rev. 
I. K. Funk, D. D., one of the publishers of the Literary 
Digest. Doctor Funk offered, and advertised his offer, of 
a thousand dollars for any explanation of these phenomena 
that would exclude the Spiritualistic explanation but up 
to the time of his death his thousand dollars was still un- 
claimed. So much for the yawpings of so-called scientific 
men who dispute the existence of an intelligent First Cause 
for the universe because he does not humble Himself to 
them and tell them just how he made everything ! 

Going back to my own experiences, M. M., now in 
spirit land, tells me, through M. J., of the condition of her 
husband, Mr. W. M., and when he comes to see me he 
tells me of feelings and ailments that exactly tally with 
what the medium, M. J., gave me as coming from his de- 
parted wife. Through M. J., this departed woman told me 
that her husband was very careless in crossing a street in 
Philadelphia and had barely escaped losing his life by 
being run down by an automobile. He verified this state- 
ment when he came to see me, a day later. He has also a 
habit of calling me up the morning after my seance with 
M. J., and I tell him what his departed wife said about 
him, if anything, the night before, and he invariably veri- 
fies all I tell him. 

These things cannot be explained by telepathy or by 
any other human agency. Why deny them when they 
mean so much to our welfare here and hereafter? 



CHAPTER XVIII 

Trance, catalepsy and ecstasy may be defined as modes 
of human hibernation or prolonged sleep. I will reverse 
the order in which I have given them and define each in 
detail, taking for my authority a standard medical work. 

Ecstasy is characterized by an exalted visionary 
state, absence of volition, insensibility to surroundings, a 
radiant expression and immobility in statuesque positions. 
This condition is usually found only among religious en- 
thusiasts. 

Catalepsy is characterized by perverted consciousness, 
diminished sensibility, and especially by muscular rigidity, 
the latter being independent of the will, and in conse- 
quence of which the parts affected remain in any position 
or attitude in which they may be placed. 

Trance is characterized by general muscular immo- 
bility, complete mental inertia and insensibility to sur- 
roundings. This state may last for minutes, hours, days, 
weeks or even months, and has been compared to that of a 
hibernating animal. Trance may be induced by influences 
on the nervous system or on the mind ; more frequently the 
latter, and sometimes both combined. 

Now, taking up Trance, let us see whether it can be 
explained by any, or all the known facts, concerning ner- 
vous ailments. 

There are three sorts of Trance. First, the Trance 
in which the subliminal self, or secondary personality, or 
subconscious mind, controls the body of the subject. Sec- 
ond, the Trance where the incarnate spirit, or soul, makes 
excursions into the spiritual world or holds telepathic in- 
tercourse with it. Finally, there is the Trance of possession 
by a discarnate spirit. 

98 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 99 

I have given an illustration of the first sort of trance 
in a chapter preceding this. I feel sure the reader will 
agree with me that there is no other way of explaining 
the fireman's placing of portraits on blank cards while he 
was hypnotized. His conscious mind was switched off and 
his sub-conscious mind, or spirit, conceived the portraits 
and by a method unknown, projected the portraits upon 
the cards. 

The second sort of trance will be understood better 
after a reading of the claims made by Swedenborg, the 
great religious mystic, whose vast intellect, astonishing 
scientific achievements and unquestioned veracity entitles 
him to belief when he claims — in his works — the power of 
conversing with departed souls or, rather, the spirit world. 
Moreover, it should be remembered that calm students of 
French history say there is no other way of accounting 
for Joan of Arc and her achievements than by acceptance 
of her claim that she saw and heard heavenly visitors and 
held converse with them. 

As to the third sort of trance, namely trance of pos- 
session by a discarnate spirit, I claim, and can prove, that 
the trance medium as a rule is a healthy person and free 
from any nervous ailments, that the medium often is hyp- 
nosis-proof against the operator on this side, that the me- 
dium gives messages from departed persons that he, or she, 
never met or heard of, and, finally that the discarnate 
spirits talking through the medium in this trance are 
always identified by the witnesses, and the spirit message 
verified. I have for fifteen years had sittings from a me- 
dium, a young married woman, who has never, in that time, 
had any illness more serious than a slight cold. This young 
woman 's revelations, or messages, have been heard by some 
of Camden's best known men and women, and I can and 



100 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

will give their names privately to any one doubting this 
statement. 

If the reader is not satisfied with the evidence I offer 
as to the reality of the different forms of trance I shall be 
glad to hear from him or her. I claim that the genuine- 
ness of the medium's messages is proved by the conditions 
I cite in the preceding paragraph. 

The young woman I have spoken of first came under 
my notice as a hypnotic subject, and while in a hypnotic 
sleep she gave messages from persons who had been dead 
a long while. Then I knew she was being used by discar- 
nate spirits. Finally I got the message through her while 
she was in a hypnotic sleep that I need not hypnotize her 
any longer — that the spirits controlling her would do that, 
and they did until she passed beyond the veil. In fact, I 
•have reason to doubt whether I could have hypnotized 
her after they told me I need not do so. She is controlled 
entirely from the other side, as we say of the spirit world. 

Through this medium I have had many evidences of 
transfiguration, that is her face took on the features and 
expression of the spirit speaking through her. I have had 
as many as thirty transfigurations in one night, and as for 
instances of ether realization, or luminous appearance, and 
instances of materialization, I could tell of many. 

As to materialization from the strictly scientific point 
of view, Baron von Schrenck Notzing, a practicing physi- 
cian in Munich, has published in a volume, with more than 
two hundred illustrations, absolute proof that the outlines 
and images appearing on "spirit photographs" consist of 
a substance that will stand microscopic examination and 
then chemical analysis. His book, costing fifteen dollars, 
is published by E. P. Dutton & Company, of New York 
City. 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 101 

Is there any physical basis for, and absolute proof of 
the reality of trance ? I say, yes. 

An artificial production of sleep is entrancement. How 
can it be produced ? By concentration. How can concen- 
tration be secured? By fixing the mind on as simple a 
sensation as possible. Fix your eye on a lighted electric 
bulb, keep it there steadily, and this continuity of the same 
vibration on the optic nerve will eventually disconnect the 
optic thalami and corpora striata and produce sleep. No 
matter how strong one's will may be trance will result 
from concentration on one sensation. 

Nature has made wise provision to discontinue sen- 
sation when it becomes too dominant. Shakespeare did 
not know this when he said "The beetle you tread upon 
feels as much pain as a giant dying. ' ' The nervous system 
will transmit only a certain amount of pain before you are 
landed in unconsciousness. When pain reaches its maxi- 
mum you are no longer sensible of pain. Any interference 
with the cellular vibration of the thalami will cut off sen- 
sation. 

When you have suspended consciousness by concen- 
trated attention you are in a dream state. You are not 
absolutely separate from sensation for the broken states 
of memory in the mind overlap one another and produce 
dream consciousness. 

Magnetism is molecular force, and forms a connecting 
link between matter and spirit. It is extremely sensitive 
to sympathy, and when a soul in form or a soul in spirit 
impinges upon the magnetic force, or cells constituting that 
force, it will express itself. So a soul in spirit gains en- 
trance to the trance consciousness of the soul in form. The 
soul of the medium is awakened to the trance consciousness, 
and that awakening is carried to the medulla oblongata, 
where it gains an automatic expression. Thus there is a 



102 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

connection between the cells of the medulla oblongata and 
the corpora striata. There is a strand in the corpora 
striata that is independent of the thalami, and because of 
the independence of that nerve mediumship is possible. 
Without that independent strand there could be no spir- 
itual communication through the trance consciousness. 

This statement of the reality of trance consciousness, 
and of the physical basis for it, is in perfect harmony with 
physiological and anatomical science. To medical students 
I say, dissect again and again, and you will find the evi- 
dence. You will be convinced as I was convinced and I 
began as a skeptic. Look in the old book stores for the 
book of Dr. Carpenter, a book long out of print, if you 
want to know more about unconscious cerebral action, for 
it was Dr. Carpenter who created the phrase ' ' unconscious 
cerebration," or unconscious thinking. 

Braid claimed that trance consciousness was due to 
attention, concentration, monotony. The French school 
claimed that hypnosis was produced by suggestion, but it 
is produced by monotony. A monotonous monotone will 
produce the quiet state. The monotonous intoning of the 
Catholic church has come down from the ages, from the 
primitive forms of Druidical mediumship. Witness the 
effect of a lullaby, for instance, and then see the enliven- 
ing effect of ragtime. 

The objeet of the trance state is not to exclude the 
subconscious mind from communication, but to separate 
its memories and interpretations from the messages trans- 
mitted. The subconscious mind is the vehicle or medium 
for the transmission of all messages from the transcendental 
world. But, that the subconscious mind is sometimes an 
obstacle to communication is evident from the fragmen- 
tary nature of some of the messages. I believe that all 
messages received are mere fragments of what the com- 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 103 

municator intends to convey for right in the midst of what 
seems to be an important message something irrelevant 
will be introduced, and the message will not be finished 
until another sitting. Again, the interruption will be an 
apparently trivial piece of information to some of the sit- 
ters, but to the sitters for whom the information is intended 
it will be positive proof of spirit communication. 

The subconscious mind sometimes colors the language 
of the message. This is particularly true where any matter 
of technical meaning is being conveyed through the me- 
dium. The medium's own, every-day language, may be 
heard in the message. The subconscious mind is a colored 
glass, coloring, but not altering the actual meaning of the 
message. The thing to exclude is the action of the normal 
mind and its interpreting faculties. The deeper the trance, 
or induced sleep, the less the liability of the subconscious 
stores of memory interfering and interpreting. The spirit 
control is evidently handicapped in the mild, or marginal 
trance, so called because it is the borderland between the 
conscious and the deep trance. 

The capacity to express in the trance consciousness is 
limited by the brain cells, and also by the automatic cells 
of the medulla oblongata. All powerful trance mediums 
have large medulla oblongatas, and a great base to their 
brains, as well as large lungs. Men of great magnetic force 
are similarly constituted. See, for instance, John Wesley, 
Martin Luther, and other great leaders of thought. Many 
of these characters also have, frequently, large stomachs, 
for people who do inspirational work must eat often, but 
not much at a time. The fires must be kept burning. The 
more magnetism, the more food required, and the more 
food, the more blood. Blood makes for magnetism. 

Physical mediumship also manifests itself through the 
medulla oblongata, as in the case of moving bodies, or mate- 



104 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

rializing, or illumination. All this is possible for every 
cell in the human body is bathed in a magnetic influence, 
and the entire body is surrounded by a magnetic aura. 

The physical basis of mediumship will soon be so 
firmly established that scoffers and skeptics, and especially 
clergymen who neglect this great revelation, will be utterly 
confounded. 



CHAPTER XIX 

"After all is said," some say, "Spiritualism merely 
tells us of life hereafter. It has no moral significance, but 
merely claims to prove the fact of immortality while re- 
ligion asks us to accept immortality on faith." In answer 
to that I will say to the reader making the criticism : My 
friend, nothing I have learned from spirit communicants 
is more certain than this: As the soul lives in the earth 
life so does it go to the spirit life at death. The soul is 
not changed except in being freed from the body. The 
soul that on earth is impure and immoral does not change 
its nature by passing from the earth sphere any more than 
the soul that has been truthful, pure and progressive be- 
comes base and bad by death. You cannot imagine a pure 
and upright soul degenerating after it has left your mortal 
vision. Yet you believe a fable to the effect that death 
brings about a purification of that which has become by 
habit impure and unholy, hating God and goodness and 
choosing sensuality and sin. The one is no more possible 
than the other. The soul's character has been a daily and 
hourly growth. It has not been an overlaying of the soul 
with that which can be thrown off as you throw off your 
coat or wrap, but it has been a weaving into the nature 
of the soul that which becomes a part of the soul, identified 
with its nature and inseparable from its character. It is 
no more possible that character should be undone, save by 
the slow process of obliteration, than that the woven fabric 
should be rudely cut and the threads remain intact. 

The spirit that has yielded to the lusts of a sensual 
body becomes in the end their slave. Such a spirit would 
not be happy in the midst of purity and refinement. It 
would sigh for its old haunts and habits because they are 

105 



106 NO, NOT BEAD; THEY LITE 

of its very essence. So, you see, the legions of the adver- 
sary are simply the masses of unprogressed and undevel- 
oped spirits who have banded together from affinity 
against all that is pure and good. They can only progress 
by penitence and through the instrumentality of higher 
intelligences, and so gradually and laboriously undo all 
that mortals understand as sin and sinful habits. There 
are many who are chiefs among them, but there is not such 
a devil as the theologians tell us about. Spirits, good and 
bad alike, are subject to the rule of commanding intelli- 
gences. 

Earthbound spirits retain many of their earthly pas- 
sions and propensities. The cravings of the body are not 
extinct though the power to gratify these cravings are 
withdrawn. The drunkard retains his old thirst, but 
exaggerated and aggravated by the impossibility of slaking 
it. The unquenched desire burns within him and urges 
him to frequent his old haunts and to drive wretches like 
his old self to further degradation. In them he lives again 
his old life and drinks in satisfaction, grim and devilish, 
from the excesses he causes others to commit. And so his 
vice perpetuates itself and swells its cup of sin and sorrow. 
The besotted wretch, goaded on by agencies he cannot see, 
sinks deeper and deeper into the mire. His innocent babe 
and wife starve and weep in agony while near them hovers, 
and over them broods, the guardian angel who has no power 
to reach the wretch who so mars their lives and breaks 
their hearts. So, the earthbound spirit lives again its life 
of excess in the excesses of those it is enabled to drive to 
ruin. 

So some souls voluntarily allow themselves to become 
so degraded that they pass the boundary line beyond which 
restoration becomes hard. The perpetual choosing of evil 
and refusal of good necessarily breeds an aversion to that 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 107 

which is pure and good and a craving for that which is 
debased. Spirits of this character have usually been incar- 
nated in bodies where the animal passions had great sway. 
They began by yielding to animal desires and ended by 
becoming slaves of the body. Noble aspirations, godlike 
longings, desire for holiness and purity, all are quenched 
and in place of spirit the body reigns supreme, dictating 
its own laws, quenching all moral and intellectual light, 
and surrounding the spirit with influences and associa- 
tions of impurity. Such a spirit is in a perilous state. The 
guardians retire affrighted from the presence ; they cannot 
remain in the atmosphere which surrounds it, and other 
spirits take their place — spirits who in their earth life were 
victims of kindred vices. These evil spirits live over again 
their earthly sensual lives and find their gratification in 
encouraging others to debasing sin. Such a spirit has found 
all its pleasure in bodily gratifications and, lo, when the 
body is dead the spirit still hovers around the scene of its 
former gratifications and lives over again the bodily life 
in the vices of those whom it lures to sin. Around the gin 
shops of the cities, and other dens of vice, haunted by 
besotted and miserable wretches, lost to self-respect and 
sense of shame, hover the spirits who in the flesh were 
lovers of drunkenness and debauchery. They lived the 
drunkard's life in the body and they live it over again 
now. They gloat with fiendish glee over the downward 
course of the spirits they are leagued to ruin. It is the 
influence of these debased spirits which aggravates the 
difficulty of retracing lost steps, which makes the descent 
so easy and the return so toilsome. These malignant spirits 
find enjoyment in and gloat over their ability to deceive 
and drag down souls on earth to their own miserable level. 
Such are they who gravitate, when released from the 
body, to congenial spheres below the earth. They, and 



108 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

their tempters, find their home together in spheres where 
they live in the hope of gratifying passions and lusts which 
have not faded with the loss of the means of satisfying 
them. In these spheres they must remain subject to the 
attempted influence of missionary spirits and until their 
desire for progress is renewed. When the desire arises the 
spirit makes its first step. It then becomes amenable to 
holy and ennobling influences and is attended by those 
pure and self-sacrificing spirits whose mission it is to help 
such souls. As we have among us in the flesh men and 
women bright and noble, whose mission in the earth life 
is in dens of infamy and haunts of vice, who are preparing 
for themselves a crown of glory, whose brightest jewels 
are self-sacrifice and love, so it is among the spirits who 
give themselves to work in the spheres of the degraded 
and abandoned in the spirit world. 

Through the efforts of the missionary spirits in the 
spirit world many degraded spirits rise and work out 
their salvation, and when rescued from degradation work 
out long and laborious purification in the probationary 
spheres where they are removed from evil influence and 
entrusted to the care of the pure and the good. So, desire 
for progress is encouraged and the spirit is purified. Of 
the lower spheres we are told they know little. They know 
vaguely that there are degrees and sorts of vice, that they 
who will not seek for anything good wallow in impurity 
and vice, and sink lower and lower until, finally, they lose 
conscious identity and become practically extinct so far 
as personal existence is concerned. Mercifully, such cases 
are rare, and spring only from deliberate rejection by the 
soul of all that is pure and ennobling. This is the sin unto 
death of which Jesus told his followers — the sin against 
the Holy Ghost. It is the sin of rejecting the influence of 
God's holy angel ministers and of preferring the death- 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 109 

like existence of vice and impurity to the life of holiness 
and purity and love. It is the sin of exalting the animal 
to the extinction of the spiritual, of degrading even the 
corporeal, of cultivating sensual earthly lusts, of depraving 
even the lowest tastes, of reducing the human to the level 
of the brute. In such the divine essence is quenched, the 
baser elements are fostered, forced and developed to undue 
excess. They gain absolute sway, they quench the spirit, 
and extinguish all desire for progress. The vice perpet- 
uates itself and drags the wretch who has yielded himself 
to the animal enjoyments further from the path of progress 
until even the animal becomes vitiated and diseased. Down 
must the soul sink, down and down, and yet down, further 
and further until it is lost in obscurity. This is the un- 
pardonable sin. Not because the Supreme will not pardon, 
but because the sinner chooses it to be so. Punishment is 
ever the immediate consequence of sin, is the inevitable 
result of the violation of law. 



CHAPTER XX 

What I have said about trance and its continuance 
while the physical functions, such as breathing and heart 
action, go on as usual, independently of consciousness, is 
verified by the conditions in the case of Harvey Church, 
the twenty-two-year-old murderer, who was recently hung 
at Chicago. 

The facts are, briefly, that forty-five days before the 
hanging Church laid down upon his cot, and a deep sleep 
fell upon him. He was carried to the gallows asleep, and 
there were no signs of consciousness when the trap was 
sprung. A clergyman had knelt beside him and pleaded 
with him to awaken and repent. Moreover, there was no 
twitching of the body when the trap was sprung and the 
rope tightened. 

When the body was cut down the attending physicians 
found many burns upon it, burns inflicted by means of 
lighted cigars in the hands of specialists, who had tried to 
awaken Church, but without effect. Even gashes across 
the most sensitive areas had failed to awaken Church 
although he had bled freely. The physicians agreed that 
for at least three weeks Church's brain had been cut off 
from sensations of any kind. 

Was Church shamming, by a tremendous act of the 
will, or was he in a genuine trance ? I wrote to the sheriff 
of Cook County, Illinois, about the case and got the follow- 
ing answer: 

"I am unable to answer your question as I am 
uncertain whether Church was conscious or un- 
conscious at the time he was executed. Neither 
could the doctors determine whether Church was 

110 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 111 

feigning or whether he was conscious or uncon- 
scious when he was hanged. 

"Charles W. Puten, 
"Sheriff." 

I have attended many hangings and electrocutions and 
all physicians who have had a similar experience will agree 
with me that shamming is impossible, particularly when 
facing death by hanging or in the chair. Bravado is im- 
possible under such conditions. 

I am of the opinion that Church had mediumistic 
powers, but powers unsuspected to himself and others, and 
his spirit, realizing that there was no earthly means of 
saving the physical body (for man cannot kill life itself) 
withdrew with the aid of discarnate spirits. When the 
spirit had withdrawn from the physical body, sensation 
ceased as there was no one at the door of sensation to per- 
ceive and send out the necessary motor impulses or store 
up the sensations in the cells of the brain as memory. The 
sheriff killed the physical body, and the spirit, finally 
and fully released, went on its way to the plane, in the 
spirit world, suited for it. 

Church was as insensible to pain when he was hung 
as the tree is when it is felled by the woodsman 's axe. His 
life had reverted to the vegetable state and all the func- 
tions of his physical body acted automatically, as they do 
in the tree or plant. 

What do I mean by the vegetable state? 

The soul first built the body as a sort of vegetable 
act, and the body, like the tree, acted automatically, with- 
out consciousness. Finally, through evolution, the soul 
built a medulla oblongata to meet the necessities of its 
existence, and all the faculties of the mind then began to 
develop. The medulla oblongata is the expanded part of 
the spinal cord, and it contains special collections of gray 



112 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

matter, which constitute independent nerve centres pre- 
siding over involuntary functions. With the medulla 
oblongata, and without the brain, as I showed in Chapter 
IV, life can, and does, go on, as in the cases where the 
brain has been crushed, in an accident, into a jelly-like 
mass, or in the case of an idiot, who has practically no 
brain, or in experiments where, for instance, the brain of 
a pigeon has been removed. 

It is hard, in some cases, to draw the line of demarca- 
tion between the animal and the vegetable. 

There is the plant, Dionaea Muscipula, or Venus' Fly 
Trap, first described in 1768 and still discussed by botan- 
ists. Some say it is vegetable life while admitting its 
amazing functions, which seem to reflect conscious intelli- 
gence. Others, dwelling upon this apparently conscious 
intelligence, point out the plant's digestive apparatus, its 
production of genuine gastric juice, and, reasoning from 
these, say it is animal life. 

Then there is the Cassia Nictitans, or wild sensitive 
plant. It trembles and shrivels at the touch of a human 
hand or other object. 

The Yeast Plant is one of the lowest forms of vegetable 
life. It multiplies by dividing and subdividing its own 
cells. 

The Amoeba is one of the lowest forms of animal life. 
It is a mass of protoplasm, which floats about in fresh 
water ponds and seizes its food by finger-like processes. 

The Common Sponge of Commerce is an animal, 
although most persons believe it is a vegetable. It has a 
real anatomy, and a detailed description of it is very inter- 
esting. 

Church was in a vegetable state when he was hung. 
His conscious animal intelligence had been switched off. 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LITE 113 

So, the human being in his wonderful makeup, par- 
takes of both animal and vegetable life. He is in a vege- 
table state when he is in a trance. 

Ecstasy, catalepsy and trance are all varieties of 
human hibernation or prolonged sleep. 

Ecstasy is an exalted visionary state, with absence of 
volition, insensibility to surroundings, a radiant expres- 
sion, and immobility in positions. It is usually found only 
among religious enthusiasts. 

Catalepsy is marked by perverted consciousness, di- 
minished sensibility, and muscular rigidity independent of 
the will, in consequence of which the body will remain in 
any position in which it may be placed. 

Trance is marked by general immobility, mental in- 
ertia, and insensibility. There are many sorts of trance. 
First, natural sleep, which may be partial or complete. 
Next, the trance in which the incarnate spirit makes excur- 
sions into the spirit world or hold telepathic intercourse 
with it, and finally, the trance of possession by a discar- 
nate spirit. 

Trance may be natural or induced, namely hypno- 
tism. A deep normal sleep is a trance. Trance may be 
brought on by suggestion from one person to another, as 
in hypnotism, or it may be self -induced by auto-suggestion. 
It may be induced by means of anaesthetics, such as ether, 
chloroform, gas, etc. 

In all the trance states the spirit is out of the physical 
body, but still attached by means of a silvery-like thread, 
which is composed of matter, but not matter as we under- 
stand matter, but, nevertheless matter. Through this sil- 
very thread the spirit keeps complete control of the organ- 
ism and energizes it. After the trance state, or rather at 
its conclusion, the spirit returns to the body, or it may 
discard the body, as where an operation, under the influ- 



114 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

ence of an anaesthetic, proves too much, that is, too much 
of a shock, or in cases where a vital part is removed, or 
an organ is too far gone to be repaired. 

In the induced state, where the discarnate spirit acts, 
and of course displaces temporarily the subject's own 
spirit, the subject's spirit returns to the body when the 
discarnate spirit is through using it. In the case of trance 
under an anaesthetic, if the physical parts under operation 
are found past repair, the silvery thread is broken and 
thenceforth the spirit uses its next body, or soul, in which 
to manifest itself forever. 

Harvey Church was out the body when he was hung, 
waiting for the sheriff to break the silvery thread or con- 
nection between spirit and body, but still he was in this 
world, with, however, all his senses cut off. In other words, 
he merely lived like a tree or plant, and all his functions 
acted automatically. 

Church was in a vegetable state and so unconscious. 
The acknowledged difference between plant and animal 
life is that the former is an unconscious life while the lat- 
ter is a conscious life, or, in other words, has sense organs. 
And, I will add, the amount of intelligence depends upon 
the degree of development of these sense organs. 

When all has been said, is it impossible or improbable, 
in these days of rapid and advanced scientific achieve- 
ment, to find that some of the plants are really conscious 
and are evolving into a higher state ? It is difficult to tell 
where the vegetable ends and the animal begins or where 
the rock begins and the vegetable ends, as in the South 
Sea Islands some supposed coral formations are vegetable 
life, and only an expert botanist can tell the difference. 
Let us withhold the word, impossible. 

More wonderful even than the invisibility of the di- 
viding line between animal and vegetable life is the fact 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 115 

that vegetable life, while without conscious intelligence, 
has, nevertheless, anatomical organization that responds 
to drugs and anaesthetics, and is subject to some of the 
diseases that afflict the human being, such as cancer. Some 
plants can be put to sleep with ether and chloroform, and 
if enough is given they can be killed, just like the human 
being. When given a moderate dose they awaken and 
resume their normal life, just as the human does. These 
plants have nerves, and are affected by heat and cold, like 
the human being. Life is wonderfully complex and only 
the fool will venture to define its limits, visible or invisible. 

(Since I wrote the above paragraph I have found, in 
the Scientific American, a description of the "Vegetable 
caterpillar," of New Zealand. The presence of this cater- 
pillar is detected by a sharp tail-like spike extending above 
the surface of the soil at the foot of a rata tree. It feeds 
upon the rata foliage and drops to the foot of the tree 
where it bores itself into the earth. But, the rata spores 
have entered the caterpillar by way of its breathing tubes 
and soon eat it up, all save the outer shell. The viscera is 
entirely displaced by a chalky fungoid substance, and the 
only semblance to the original larva is the outer skin, which 
maintains all the outlines of the original inhabitant.) 

This brings us back to the question, what is mind? 
Mind is conscious and subconscious operation. The activ- 
ity of consciousness in any mode of personality is under- 
stood as mind. Conscious mind is not consciousness, but 
the function of consciousness. 

We have two kinds of mind : Unconscious mind and 
subconscious mind. 

Unconscious mind means those operations of selec- 
tive and rejective states apart from knowing. The whole 
of the medulla oblongata constitutes the seat of the uncon- 
scious mind. This mind could be very properly called the 



116 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

mechanical mind. Its performances are marvelous and are 
very important functions in the system of animal economy. 
It carries on the chemical process of body building. The 
spirit builds its body under the conditions of the environ- 
ment, the soul being an exact replica of the physical body 
in the minutest detail. The environment, always being the 
modifier of the mechanical mind, enters in the structural 
development of the body, and, at the same time, into the 
dual act of body building, meaning both physical and soul 
(for there is a mechanical selective and co-ordinating spir- 
itual mind parallel to and running consequentially with 
the body co-ordinating mind, two minds and two bodies 
in perfect polarity, just as the molecules constitute water, 
a perfectly harmonious relationship, so that which is pres- 
ent in one mind is present in the other mind without 
consciousness). 

Conscious mind plans, thinks, and reasons, and this 
is called thought, and through thought we arrive at ideas 
or opinions, and the execution of the ideas arrived at 
through thought and reason is made possible by, and 
through the sense organs, by a powerful force called will. 
This force we have inherited from God, our Father, and it 
is the force, in Him, that created all things seen and 
unseen. 

Take a man through an art gallery, say for about a 
half -hour, then hypnotise him and take him through again. 
On each occasion ask him to tell you what he saw and you 
will be surprised at how little he saw when not hypnotised 
compared with what he saw when he was hypnotised. See 
what I have said about this in Chapter XIV. This knowl- 
edge is sometimes handed over, through the medulla 
oblongata while in the trance state. We often say and 
do things subconsciously (automatically) while our con- 
scious mind is occupied with something else. For instance, 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 117 

you may be seated at the piano, playing a beautiful selec- 
tion, and some one will draw your attention aside, and 
you will enter into a conversation with him and yet keep 
right on playing the piano. Or, some one will talk to you 
while the conscious mind is occupied and you will answer 
them subconsciously (automatically) intelligently and yet 
your conscious mind will have no knowledge of it. See 
what I have said about this in Chapter XIV. 

Often a medium is accused of faking because knowl- 
edge known to the sitters is given out from the medium's 
subconscious mind, knowledge which had been stored there 
without the medium's conscious knowledge. Subconscious 
information will sometimes be mixed with a true spirit 
message, and again the medium is accused of faking. Inves- 
tigators should be able to separate the wheat from the 
chaff. 

The condition of Church when he was hung was similar 
to that of the Hindu adepts who permit themselves to be 
buried unconscious, but alive, stipulating that barley be 
planted over their graves, and the graves watched, to prove 
that there is no fraud. So, the adepts lie under ground 
for thirty or forty days, and when they are disinterred 
they are immediately brought out of the state by the 
adepts that buried them and are found as well as ever. 

The adepts also lie upon beds of sharp knife points for 
long periods. The South Sea Islanders, described in the 
Appendix to this book, walk upon flames without even 
scorching the delicate hairs upon their legs. 

Home, the famous English medium, picked up live 
coals and held them within his hands and, interlocking his 
fingers, blew his breath into this improvised furnace, caus- 
ing the flames to flare out between his fingers, but without 
injury to himself. 



118 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

So, Church's condition, and freedom from sensation, 
has parallels in both ancient and modern history. The 
statements in the New Testament are entirely credible in 
the light of modern Spiritualism. 

(A case similar to that of Church's, and reported to 
me since I -wrote the above, is that of Jim Esslinger, who 
recently died in the county hospital at Fort Smith, Ark., 
after sleeping continuously for three years. He was in- 
sensible to pain, was immobile and his eyes were closed. 
He opened his eyes but once and that was on July 1, 1921, 
when he said: "I ain't where I was," and then fell back 
into a coma. He was fed with a spoon. Further discus- 
sion of this sort of phenomena will be found in Chapter 
IV of this book). 



CHAPTER XXI 

When a person dies, as we say in this world, that 
person then has only his or her spirit body, which is a 
counterpart of the earth body, except that it has no imper- 
fections. It is the same size, and the person looks the 
same, but more refined. If the person in this earth life 
lost a limb or an eye he or she is unimpaired in the spirit 
state for there is no deformity or bodily imperfection in 
the spirit state. 

Every time we have what is called natural sleep our 
spirit body withdraws from the physical body and is then 
in the astral state. The same change takes place when 
sleep is induced, as in hypnosis, or when the surgeon puts 
his patient under the influence of an aneesthetic, such as 
ether or chloroform. This process of the spirit withdraw- 
ing from the physical body during natural sleep seems to 
be necessary to give us strength to carry on our earth 
lives. Space does not permit me to explain fully why, in 
the case of the spirit withdrawing from the physical body 
during hypnosis, or trance, or while the body is under the 
influence of ether or other anaesthetic, the patient is ob- 
livious of pain, the spirit, however, keeping guard and 
vitalizing the physical during the operation, or hypnosis, 
or trance. 

Our spirit body is connected with our earth body by 
a "silvery-appearing thread," which seems to be a current 
of energy. We sleep, and part of the time we sleep, our 
spirit body is away from our earth body. When we awaken 
our spirit body has re-entered our earth body. At death 
this connection between the spiritual and the material is 
broken, and the moment it is broken decay of the mate- 
rial, or physical, body begins, although it may not be 

119 



120 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

noticeable at the time. Nevertheless, disintegration has 
started. 

At the change called death we go at once to the spirit 
sphere we are fitted for or have earned while we are in 
the physical world. Some of us will go to the first, some 
to the second, and others to the third. Seldom does any 
one go at once to the fourth sphere for life on earth is 
too short to enable one to prepare for any sphere higher 
than the third. 

Right here, while we are discussing the spheres I want 
to caution my readers against confounding planes with 
spheres. A plane is a step, or grade, or degree, in a sphere. 
For instance, the earth life has seven planes, as follows: 
Infancy, childhood, puberty or understanding, maturity, 
middle age, old age, senility. So, in every other sphere 
there are undoubtedly planes to be reached by spiritual 
growth. 

Those that go to the first or second sphere of proba- 
tion are those who refused to learn or progress while in 
this earth school. Christ undoubtedly referred to all the 
spheres of the spirit world when he said : ' ' In my Father 's 
house are many mansions." It depends upon oneself, upon 
you and me, whether the mansion we go to shall be a very 
humble one or a beautiful one in park-like surroundings. 
We get what we earn by our character and conduct in 
this earth life. 

When a spirit passes from one probationary sphere to 
a higher probationary sphere there is no change, such as 
death. But, in passing from the seventh sphere of proba- 
tion to the first sphere of contemplation there is a change 
similar to what we call death. 

When a spirit passes from one probationary sphere 
to another the electrons composing the spirit body reach 
a higher state of vibration and then everything pertain- 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 121 

ing to that higher state becomes visible. Its sounds, lights 
and other forces are immediately sensed. And as one may 
progress to, or enter temporarily, the higher spirit spheres 
so may those in the higher spheres return to the lower 
spheres. 

The earth is the highest of the seven lower spheres, 
and those of us in this earth sphere are in a lower state 
of vibration than all above us — that is in the higher 
spheres. We lack the refinements that the spirit body has 
in the higher spheres. Our spirit body is the soul, 
undying, body, and our physical body is but an instrument 
through which our spirit body operates while in this world. 
Without this physical body our spirit would have no indi- 
viduality in this world. Being but a reflection of the Divine 
Intelligence it has individuality only because it has a 
physical body through which to operate, and locality in 
which to exercise its individuality. 

The "Homeland," or third probationary sphere, is 
also right here, as are all the other spirit spheres, so that 
we are living not only on the earth plane but right where 
all the spirit spheres are located. But, our matter, as we 
call it, does not correspond with matter in the other 
spheres. The electrons composing spirit bodies and spheres 
above us occupy the same space as our bodies and our 
sphere, but they can pass through lower spheres automati- 
cally as if they did not exist, and hence find no obstacles 
or interferences. If my readers will only contemplate this 
most wonderful of all truths they will realize how very 
near us our loved ones are. They are not far away, in 
some distant heaven, but right here. There is nothing 
mysterious about their spirit life; it is just as natural as 
our earthly life. 

The "Homeland," we are told by our spirit friends, 
was the home of most of us before we entered the flesh, 



122 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

for individual experience. Without this earth experience 
we cannot graduate, so to speak, from the earth school, and 
after this experience we graduate and go back home, to 
"die no more." In other words, we pass through the 
gate called death (or what should be called birth to the 
real life) and return home, to summerland, and thence we 
go onward and upward forevermore, and there will be 
no more parting of husband and wife, of children and 
parents, of sweethearts and friends. 

What our spirit friends tell us is true. In the "Home- 
land," or summerland, people's spirits live in homes, or 
houses. Many of them are mansions. These houses are 
composed of the finer ethereal electrons, which resemble 
our building materials. These houses are not made with 
hands and tools, but by means of divine chemistry. The 
particles are drawn together, and our spirit home, or man- 
sion, is built for us in accordance with our right to pos- 
sess a moderate home or a mansion. All kindly acts are 
considered in determining the sort of home you are entitled 
to. The person you helped, or the loved ones of that per- 
son, will help add to the beauty of your home. What you 
have earned you will get in the spirit world, without 
cheating. 

The homes, as a rule, are surrounded by beautiful 
grounds, and some are in parks. They are not crowded 
together like our earthly homes. They have flower gardens, 
trees and shrubbery. The lawns are of grass more beau- 
tiful than ours. There are no wild places, as we have here. 
The cities have no business sections, and there are no poor 
sections, and no slums. There are no railways, telegraphs, 
telephones, trolley cars, automobiles, airplanes, mills or 
farms. 

The spirits eat fruit, not in the way we eat food, 
although they enjoy their food as we enjoy ours. The 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 123 

aroma given off from the fruits seems to be sufficient for 
their needs. They do not require the grosser parts as with 
us in the physical body. All the senses are increased in 
the spirit land and so, having a keener sense of taste, the 
spirits enjoy their food more than we enjoy our food. 
There is no passing of solid or liquid waste from the fact 
that there is no filling up of the stomach or intestines with 
solid food. Just as there are in this world plants that 
require neither earth nor water for their sustenance, but 
get their nourishment from the atmosphere alone, so it is 
with the spirits "over there." 

Spirits attract to themselves whatever they need to 
build their bodies. No spirit can exist without relation- 
ship to that form of matter or ether in which it has its 
being. Everybody is formed out of the material of the 
sphere in which it has its being. 



CHAPTER XXII 

No spirit exists without a body, either spiritual or 
physical. Individuality means a spirit operating through 
a body. No spirit can exist without a body. When we 
speak of a disembodied person we mean separated from 
the present physical body. In all spirit spheres the spirits 
look much like they look here. Any body, physical or spir- 
itual, is an instrument through which the spirit, here and 
hereafter, operates upon those forms of matter or ether 
in which that body has its being. Without a body there 
would be neither individuality nor contact with the sur- 
roundings. 

There is housework in the summerland. They have 
furniture, rugs and musical instruments. They have orches- 
tras and choirs. There is unending music ' ' over there. ' ' 

They have social life as we have, and like attracts like. 
The law of attraction regulates friendships. They have 
recreations, musical events and lectures. They have 
games, outings, and other amusements. But, it should 
be remembered that all who live in a particular sphere 
are not on the same plane of development. They advance 
there as we do here. Some are more learned than others. 

We are told that there are seven spheres of probation 
and seven spheres of contemplation above us, and that in 
each sphere there are seven planes. So, the reader must 
not get planes confounded with spheres. 

While the spirits in the higher spheres can, and often 
do, come to the lower spheres they frequently adopt "spirit 
manifestations" in giving their instructions. Those in the 
spirit land have communication much as we have and, 
therefore, they have their mediums. They get material- 
ization and voices under seance conditions, as we do in the 

124 



NO, NOT DEAD; TEEY LIVE 125 

physical world. Those in the higher spheres do not al- 
ways wish to change their vibrations so as to make them- 
selves visible to others in lower spheres. They prefer to 
use such means of communication as our loved ones use 
in communicating with us. 

Guidance does not cease with our world. We are not 
the only ones needing guides. There are guides helping 
many in the higher spheres. When our guides come and 
tell us what we should do we often doubt them, and try 
to "reason it out," and usually we do as we please. Those 
who try to guide us have greater confidence in their guides 
than we have in our guides. 

While language, as we know it, is preserved in the 
spirit land, there is also a means of communicating without 
the spoken or written word. This is a universal spirit 
language, known as telepathic. But it is different from 
our telepathy. It is a method of carrying, or transmitting, 
impulses without words. When we think about our loved 
ones over there they feel our thoughts. Telepathy is an 
established fact, not only from carnate to carnate, but also 
from incarnate to carnate, and vice versa. 

That our loved ones in spirit land, whether on the 
third sphere or higher, can see us at will should be very 
comforting to us. In astral sight distance is nothing. It 
might as well not exist. To will to travel to a certain 
place means that they are immediately there. 

If God's will created all things we partake of God 
because we are reflections of Him. To materialize a spirit 
in a materializing seance is to make use of spirit forces, 
and the result of that will appears in the garments of earth, 
to resemble those that would be recognized by the individ- 
ual to whom the spirit wished to make himself or herself 
visible. But, this will force has its limitations : It cannot 
will contrary to God's law. Our spirit friends impress us 



126 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

by willing their thoughts to our own spirits. As the force 
of this thought projection is strong our spirits receive a 
strong and clear impression and it comes through to our 
own mortal consciousness. 

Undeveloped spirits cannot harm us. People some- 
times say, "There are good spirits and there are evil spirits. 
The good spirits are trying to help us and the evil spirits 
are trying to harm us. The spirits with the greater power 
will succeed. Evil can mean only undeveloped. Evil is 
not final or lasting. All undeveloped spirits may in time 
develop. There is no standing still. It may take a long 
time, but the undeveloped spirit may eventually see the 
folly of his way, and will then be anxious to develop. As 
they develop their power increases. Only as they overcome 
their evil tendencies do they get greater power. For, be 
it remembered, spirit power comes with knowledge, and 
therefore it is inconceivable that those in the lower planes 
could have the power of the more highly developed spirits. 

If we are averse to development, if we wish to retain 
our gross passions and think only low thoughts, we shall 
attract the undeveloped spirits, for like attracts like. If 
we get away from low tendencies, and our thoughts be- 
come of a higher order, the undeveloped spirits will no 
longer find comfort in our company. We no longer attract 
them, but, on the contrary, repel them. 

Those in the spirit land do not need the long daily 
rest period that we in the flesh need. They have no waste 
and need for repair, as we understand those processes. 
They have no fatigue poisons of which they must rid their 
systems. They, however, do use up energy, and this loss 
must be replaced by a new store of energy. They have 
recreation periods, and study periods, and work periods. 
On an average of twenty-three out of the twenty-four hours 
of the day our loved ones are wide awake and engaged in 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 127 

something useful. They, in a sense, become tired, but not 
as we experience fatigue. They do not suffer our physical 
ills. They have no weariness, as we know it, but just a 
form of fatigue. 

Just as there is beautiful scenery in the summerland 
so there is even greater beauty the farther the spirits 
progress. Vibration is greater in the higher spheres and 
that necessarily means more solidity. Greater solidity 
means greater beauty. The higher the state of vibration 
the more beautiful everything must be. 

Our earth world, we are told by our loved ones, is the 
only flesh and blood world in creation. There are above 
us seven spheres of probation and above those again there 
are seven spheres of contemplation. The summerland is 
the third sphere above us. Then there is the fourth. The 
residents of the first, second, third and fourth spheres are 
referred to as spirits. In the fifth sphere they are referred 
to as angels, in the sixth as archangels and in the seventh 
as masters. 

To know that there is no death, and that immortality 
is a fact, and that "Homeland" is a reality, and to have 
some slight conception of our duties in "Homeland" 
should be sufficient for us in our mortal state. In time we 
shall know, and we shall, in all probability, have centuries 
in which to learn before we reach those higher spheres. 
We must earn and win our way to them. Those on the 
lower spheres sometimes go to the higher spheres, just as 
the residents of the first and second spirit spheres may be 
taken on trips to the third sphere or "Homeland." 

We are told that on all the seven spheres immediately 
above us they breathe air, the ethereal part of our air. They 
live in homes, and their lives are perfectly natural. It is 
interesting to know, also, that wherever there is life there 
is grief. Throughout life there are obligations, and there 



128 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

is always something to learn for God alone possesses all 
knowledge. 

In the seventh sphere of probation, among the mas- 
ters, is the greatest figure human history has ever known, 
namely Jesus Christ. His work is not to guide some par- 
ticular mortal but to guide the earth-world. To this earth- 
world He consecrated His life and to this earth-world He 
is attached by bonds of affection beyond our comprehen- 
sion while we are in the flesh. 

We are told by the angels (God's messengers) that 
life is in two stages, progressive and contemplative. We 
progress for countless ages, on and on we progress, and 
after the farthest point to which our finite minds can reach 
we will arrive at the highest realm of contemplation. Yes, 
we are told that in the great hereafter there will be a 
period at which progressive souls will eventually arrive at 
the very dwelling place of God, and that there they will 
lay aside their former state and dwell in the full light of 
Deity, in contemplation of all the secrets of the universe. 
Life is eternal, and we should be concerned with only the 
approach to the threshold and not with the inner temple. 

Where is the realm of contemplation located ? (Doubt- 
less it is the Heaven the Scriptures tell us about.) Science 
tells us that there are countless millions of universes and 
that in the centre of all there is a central sun so large 
that all other suns are small in comparison with it. God's 
messengers tell us that this great sun is the final (or they 
believe to be final, for they do not know all) sphere or 
realm of contemplation. In this seventh, or last, realm 
of contemplation there are residing countless millions of 
souls who, by unfoldment and progression through count- 
less ages, have become fitted for this realm. They are so 
intelligent that their knowledge is next to the knowledge 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 129 

possessed by God. However, it should be remembered that 
there is but one God and that He alone knoweth all things. 

The passage from the highest of the seven spheres of 
probation to the lowest of the seven spheres of contem- 
plation is a change similar to what we call death. We 
hear little from beyond the seven spheres of probation, but 
know that the spirits that dwell there — in the seven 
spheres of contemplation — have power to help and guide 
those in the lower spheres, and that the spirits in the 
spheres of probation watch over us mortals. 

We are informed by the spirits in the probationary 
spheres that they know nothing of the work in the spheres 
of contemplation, save that the spirits there are occupied 
with nearer views of divine perfection, in closer contem- 
plation of the cause of things, and in nearer adoration of 
the Supreme. We, however, are far from that blissful 
state. We have our work to do, and in doing it we find 
delight, the spirits tell us. Spirits speak according to 
their knowledge and experience. Some who are asked hard 
questions give replies according to their knowledge and 
are in error, but do not, therefore, blame them. 

It is frequently asked whether the marriage ties 
formed here, on earth, are continued in the spheres above. 
That, we are told, depends entirely upon similarity in 
taste and in equality of development. In the case of these 
conditions being met the two spirits progress side by side. 
In spirit they know only community of taste, and asso- 
ciation between those on the same plane, and development 
by means of mutual help. All things in the higher spheres 
are subordinated to the education of the spirit, which is 
being developed all the time. There can be no community 
of interest save between congenial souls. Consequently, 
no tie can be perpetuated unless it is a help to progress. 
The uncongenial bonds, which embittered the soul's earth 



130 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

life and marred the soul's upward progress, cease with 
the bodily, or physical, existence. 

The union of soul with soul, which, in the body, has 
been a source of support and assistance, is developed and 
increased after the spirit is freed. The loving bonds 
which encircle such congenial souls are the greatest incen- 
tive to mutual development, and so the relations are per- 
petuated, not because they have once existed, but because, 
in the eternal fitness of things, they minister to the spirit's 
education. In such cases the marriage tie is perpetuated, 
but only in such a way as the bond of fellowship between 
friends, and it is strengthened by mutual help and prog- 
ress. All souls that are mutually helpful remain in loving 
intercourse as long as it is profitable for them. When 
the time arrives at which it is more profitable for them 
to separate they go their ways without sorrow for they 
can still commune and share each other's interests. The 
reverse of such law would perpetuate misery and forever 
bar progress. 

Spirits with mutual love can never be really separated 
from each other. Mortals find it difficult to understand 
that in the spirit life there is no time and no space. In 
spirit, souls can be far apart, as we count space, and yet 
be intimately united. Soul may be linked with soul in 
bonds of affection, and yet without intimate connection. 
Love unites spirits at any distance. In our mortal state, 
brother loves brother although a vast expanse of ocean 
separates them and years have rolled by since they saw 
each other. Their pursuits may be widely different and 
they may have no mutual idea, and yet mutual love exists. 
The wife loves the degraded ruffian who mutilates her body 
and strives to crush her spirit. The hour of dissolution 
will free this wife from slavery and pain. She will soar 
while he will sink, but the bond of love will not be severed 



NO, NOT BEAD; THEY LIVE 131 

though they no longer consort together. Even here space 
is annihilated; with spirit it does not exist. So, we may 
dimly understand that with spirit, union means identity 
of development, community of interest, and mutual and 
affectionate progression. Spirits know no such "indis- 
soluble ties" as exist with mortals. The words of the 
Bible are literally true: "They" (spirits) "neither marry 
nor are given in marriage, but as are the angels of God." 
The law of progress and the law of association are 
invariable. Much that now seems good we will throw aside 
with the body. Our present state of being colors our views. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

The number of religions or creeds at the present time 
is, approximately, about seven hundred and not one has 
offered the first iota of proof of immortality of the soul, 
with the exception of Spiritualism, and Spiritualism is 
founded on proof, or, in other words, Spiritualists know 
that immortality is a fact. 

I have already said that sentiment, hope, belief, and 
faith lead nowhere, or to absolute disappointment. As an 
illustration, when I entered Medical College I was a con- 
firmed materialist. My sentiment was that if man had a 
soul it occupied space ; it must be composed of matter : 
therefore it should have left some evidence of the place 
it had formerly occupied in the physical body, most likely 
in the brain. I dissected with my scalpel and found no 
trace of the soul. 

I had hope that I could find it on the outside, or exter- 
nal to the physical organs. I delved into hypnotism, and 
the results were very encouraging. Believing I was on 
the right track, I investigated further and the farther I 
went the more marvelous were the results. I then had faith 
in the promises of our Lord, Jesus Christ. The proof I 
obtained through hypnotism, natural trances through 
mediumship, and other psychical phenomena, has given me 
knowledge of the immortality of the soul. On the other 
hand, a patient's sentiment was that if I treated him of 
a malignant disease (cancer) I could cure him. On seeing 
this patient I explained to him the gravity of his malady. 
With it all he had hope, and temporarily I stayed the 
ravages of the disease. He now believed I had found 
the remedy that would eventually cure him. His faith in 
my ability to cure him was profound, but in time he passed 

132 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 133 

through the change called death. He did not obtain knowl- 
edge that his cure was assured. By this simple illustra- 
tion, but true, nevertheless, my readers can see the differ- 
ence between sentiment, hope, faith, belief and knowledge. 
Laying aside all I have said of the soul, it is revealed 
by psychic powers that cannot be attributed to matter, 
and which are far from having been sufficiently studied. 
It is space-occupying, and matter in a higher state of vibra- 
tion than the physical. Man does not yet know his true 
nature. He is endowed with powers that are at present 
only suspected, but which, by his gradual evolution, will 
develop. We see, touch, analyze, and dissect in the physi- 
cal organism that which is crude and superficial. The 
most important part of man has been neglected, namely, 
the study of all that man is — the soul, but in recent years 
master minds, a few of whom I mention in these pages, 
have openly admitted the survival of bodily death. So, 
from now on we can expect rapid advances by these able 
scientific minds, by means of analysis, by way of experi- 
ment, to take the place of our former metaphysics and the 
words which represent it. Let us cease basing our judg- 
ments on the material appearance of things. All is not 
what it appears to be ; we are too much inclined to believe 
we know everything and that anything outside of science, 
as we have understood science, is not worth examination. 
There is much that is true, much that cannot be dissected 
with our scalpel or detected by old methods of investi- 
gation. There is Very little, if any, reality back of some 
expressions with which we have been contented for cen- 
turies. This is the age in which man does his own think- 
ing. People must be shown ; they want to know ; knowl- 
edge, and nothing less, will satisfy. You cannot keep the 
average man in the dark and educate him at the same 
time. 



134 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LITE 

God lias no secrets in His universe that He desires to 
hide from mortals, but only in proportion to our mental 
and spiritual abilities are these secrets revealed to us. All 
life is progressive. "Seek and ye shall find; knock and 
the door shall be opened to you. ' ' God desires us to have 
knowledge. No secret in His universe will be kept from 
us if we are worthy to grasp it. 

Every one of the many religions believes that it, and 
it alone, is right. Nearly every creed is an offshoot from 
some other creed, because the preachers of the other creed 
did not interpret the Bible to suit them. Hell-fire and 
brimstone are now believed by very few. Infant damna- 
tion has also been discarded. Others disagree as to what 
day should be observed as the Sabbath, and yet every de- 
nomination will quote the Bible to prove its claims as to 
having the truth in its creed. Why? Because the Bible 
was written by fallible men, was much misinterpreted, mis- 
translated, and mostly handed down by oral tradition. Of 
all the religions none offer the slightest proof of the con- 
tinuation of life after the change called death, except 
Spiritualism. Many of the denominations tell us of the 
day of resurrection at some future time, but just when it 
will be they cannot state. They will also tell you about 
heaven and hell, but not where they are located. 

Spiritualism proves the reality of life after the change 
called death. We know that resurrection takes place im- 
mediately after the change. We know that a place of 
everlasting torment does not exist. We recognize the pur- 
gatory of the Catholic Church. This purgatory is what the 
Spiritualist knows as the earth-bound sphere, which is the 
sixth of the seven lower spheres, the earth being the sev- 
enth or highest. It is therefore the sphere immediately 
below us. Spiritualists know that there are twenty-one 
spheres in all, or, in detail, seven lower spheres, of which 



NO, NOT DEAD; TREY LIVE 135 

the earth is the seventh or highest; seven spheres of pro- 
bation immediately above us, and seven spheres of con- 
templation above them. 

We know that the prayers of those in the physical 
body help those in the earth-bound sphere. Nearly all in 
this sphere advance to higher spheres. Hell is remorse. 
As Milton puts it so vividly in his "Paradise Lost," 

"Which way I fly is Hell; 
Myself am Hell." 

Spiritualism makes this idea of Hell clear, and does 
more to make God's justice comprehensible and awe-in- 
spiring than any other form of religious belief. 

I explain in this book of mine what is meant by the 
saying in the Bible "In my father's house are many man- 
sions, not made with hands, but eternal in the heavens," 
and "I go to prepare a place for you, and where I am 
ye may be also." I also explain what is meant by "Going 
home, no more to roam, no more to sin and sorrow." I 
show you that God is omnipotent, omniscient and omni- 
present. I show you that He could not be omnipotent, 
omniscient and omnipresent, and then make man in His 
own image, as He is said to have made Adam, for if God 
had a form like man He would be localized and His powers 
would be limited as are man's powers. God is the only 
fourth dimensional being or element in existence, having 
neither length nor breadth, nor thickness, while man, being 
a third dimensional being, has length, breadth and thick- 
ness. 

What I have said about conflicting interpretations of 
the Bible is borne out by an address by Rev. Carter Helm 
Jones, before the Baptist preachers of Philadelphia, on 
March 6, 1922. He said in part : 

' ' It was not Judaism, nor skepticism, nor atheism, nor 
infidelity, but literal adherence to the Scriptures that 



136 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

nailed Christ to the cross. It is still doing so today. We 
have thousands of people among us who work with the 
Bible, eat with it and sleep with it, who can quote its pas- 
sages word for word, and yet they haven't the slightest 
conception of what it means. There are people who go to 
bed with quotations from the Bible written on a piece of 
paper placed under their pillow, who have yet to learn 
the meaning of Christianity." 

The usual conception of the Gospels is too narrow, Kev. 
Mr. Jones said, and should include, not only the written 
Bible, but all that nature itself can teach, including the 
apparently inspired works of man. The great pieces of 
poetry, works of art, and masterpieces of music, he said, 
he liked to think of as having an almost divine origin in- 
sofar as they tend toward exaltation of the spirit and the 
uplift of man. 

"Nor should we, for this reason, frown upon science 
and what science has to teach us," he continued. "I thor- 
oughly believe we should accept every fact that biology, 
geology, astronomy, and the rest can show, and that we 
can accept them without in the least disturbing our re- 
ligious convictions. But there is such a thing as a danger- 
ous learning, when we become lost in the letter and refuse 
the throbbing impulses of the spirit. We cannot win to 
Heaven either through the higher strata of learning or 
through a dogmatic, catechismie theology. 

' ' I am grateful that I have outlived many of the theo- 
logical theories I learned in the seminary, and though I 
have been preaching for almost forty years, I could not 
answer today many of the questions that were then put 
to me by the Council." 



CHAPTER XXIV 

Objectors to Spiritualism, that is those who have never 
investigated it and refuse to investigate it, say it is "Un- 
scriptural. ' ' 

In the Appendix to this book I have given a number 
of Scriptural sayings concerning the body as distinct from 
the soul, the soul as surviving the body, and the assurance 
that the souls of the departed can visit the scenes they 
frequented on earth and leave messages of comfort and 
warning to those still here. I believe that these Scriptural 
extracts speak for themselves, but if any student of the 
Bible has any objection or criticism to offer I shall be glad 
to hear from him. I ask all my readers to carefully study 
these extracts from the Bible. 

The Roman Catholic Church says practically, "Yes, 
Spiritualism is a fact, but all the spirits are evil spirits. ' ' 
The burden of proof is on the Church. In all my experi- 
ence I have never known spirits to give evil advice. I have 
heard them tell of their remorse for their mistakes in this 
mortal life, and I have heard them describe the spirit 
world as several spheres where the spirit advances, from 
one to the other, according to their growth in spiritual 
knowledge. The spirits' description of these spheres tallies 
exactly with the Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory 
and also with the revelations given Swedenborg, the great 
religious mystic, of whom Ralph Waldo Emerson said : 
"One of the missouriums and mastodons of literature, he 
is not to be measured by whole colleges of ordinary 
scholars. His stalwart presence would flutter the gowns 
of a university." And still Swedenborg is only one of 
the world's greatest observers and thinkers who declare 

137 



138 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

their belief in Spiritualism, or its manifestations under 
any other name. 

I said the burden of proof is on the Roman Catholic 
Church. Against the Church objection to Spiritualism I 
should like to hear some priest explain the fourteenth verse 
of St. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews: "Are they not all 
ministering spirits, sent to minister for them, who shall 
receive the inheritance of salvation?" And what becomes 
of the Church teachings concerning "guardian angels" if 
all the spirits making themselves known to us are "evil 
spirits"? Which is the truth, the Church Bible and doc- 
trine or its recent deliverances against Spiritualism? 

Another objection raised is: Of what value is Spir- 
itualism? I might answer, of what value is grief, the 
grief of the bereaved? Why grieve when it is not only 
unavailing to bring back the departed but is also deaden- 
ing to ambition and energy? I have heard a prominent 
churchman say of his dead daughter: "0, I shall never 
see her again!" Of what benefit was that man's religion 
to him? It was certainly no consolation to him. I have 
heard other bereaved church people curse God for taking 
their dear little children from them. If this is the best 
their religion can do for them in the time of greatest trial, 
when death takes their best loved ones, then their religion 
lacks something, if it is not false. Instead of saying that 
Christianity is false I take the stand, and I believe I prove, 
that church people are not getting the full message and 
benefit of Christianity. And Christianity unquestionably 
teaches Spiritualism, gives assurance of immortality and 
proves immortality through the "ministering spirits" 
vouched for by Paul and others. 

"All silly imposture, this Spiritualism," says another 
critic. I have stated elsewhere my belief that nearly all 
professional mediums are fakers. Thurston and Keller, 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 139 

greatest of modern magicians, admitted that there were 
many things in Spiritualistic manifestations that they could 
not duplicate with apparatus and slight-of-hand. More- 
over, Home, the professional medium I have told about, 
held hot coals in his hand and mouth, placed them upon 
the head of one of his sitters, and did other wonderful 
things that make the Bible story of three Hebrew children 
in a fiery furnace entirely possible and probable. 

''Spiritualism destroys Christianity!" Honestly, can- 
did reader, is not that assertion worse than ridiculous in 
the face of the evidence? Spiritualism interprets the 
Bible and proves that it is true. It proves the truth of 
the Bible warning, that "Whatsoever a man soweth that 
also shall he reap." The churches, on the contrary, war- 
ring over interpretations of doctrine, split into more than 
seven hundred denominations, each and every one of them 
claiming to be the only true church. Not one of them 
offers more than faith, hope and sentiment as grounds for 
immortality. They all act as if their faith in immortality 
would not stand the test, the acid test, of investigation, 
and yet the Bible says (I. Thessalonians, 5: 21) : "Prove 
all things; hold fast that which is good." 

"Mediums often use ungrammatical language," it is 
said. Granted, but why not ask the question : " Is the mes- 
sage true? Has the spirit speaking through the medium 
made his or her identity known beyond doubt? Had the 
medium any acquaintance with the departed person when 
he or she was in this earthly life ? " If the message is true, 
and the spirit's identity is proved, and the spirit was un- 
known to the medium in this life, the words in which the 
message is couched may be governed to some extent by the 
medium's own organism. "What shall we say of the 
mediums who give messages in foreign languages, unknown 
to them and probably beyond their earthly ability to learn ? 



140 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

What shall we say of the warning given me of my accident, 
and of the warning given a prominent professional man 
of my acquaintance by a sixteen-year-old girl in a trance, 
a warning against taking a railroad trip which resulted in 
death for others? This professional man laughed at the 
warning because it purported to come from his "sister." 
He knew positively that he had never had a sister, but when 
he told his mother of the incident she told him that she 
had never said anything to him about twin babies of hers, 
boy and girl, who died the day they were born ! 

"Why do not the spirits talk direct to me?" many 
say. Why are not all of us musicians or telegraphers? 
The spirits need peculiarly sensitive persons as mediums. 
Why did God use prophets in Bible times? Why didn't 
He talk direct with the people? 

"Why darkness for Spiritualist manifestations?" Not 
always, but some manifestations, such as the luminous 
effects of etherealization and materialization, will not show 
in the light. Then it should be remembered that all life 
spends its embryonic period in darkness and moisture. See, 
for instance, the human embryo ; the animal kingdom gen- 
erally and the vegetable kingdom. It is a law that we 
must accept ; we did not make that law ; we do not under- 
stand that law; we cannot change that law, but we must 
accept it. We cannot "find out God" by searching, but 
we can discover His laws and obey them. Moreover, light 
would destroy the substances the spirit chemists use for 
temporarily building either an ethereal or a material body 
for our inspection and identification. Light would destroy 
these effects. Why have a dark room for photography? 
The law exists in the visible world as well as in the spirit 
world. 

Because our eyes do not see some things we doubt 
their existence. It must be remembered that our physical 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 141 

senses take in only an infinitesimal part of our existence. 
Our visual organs have a minimum and a maximum limit 
of light vibrations, which are focused on the retina, and 
any vibrations above or below those limits do not make 
any impression upon the visual organs. So with the ear. 
There are some sounds above and below its limits. Who 
ever heard the footsteps of a flea ? No one, and yet now, by 
a specially-prepared amplifier the footsteps of a flea can 
be heard several feet away. Other sounds, ordinary to 
our ears, can be so amplified that our ear-drums would 
be in danger of rupture. 

The wonders revealed by the microscope are admitted. 
So are the things shown us by the Eoentgen rays. The 
camera, it is admitted, will show us things that our naked 
eyes miss. 

"Wireless telegraphy and wireless telephony are admit- 
ted, and yet it is not realized that their messages are carried 
on a medium, ether or electrons, more substantial than our 
common telegraph or telephone wires. Telepathy, or trans- 
ference of thought, is admitted. It is as well established 
as heat and light. 

This earth life is a mystery. "There are more things 
in heaven and earth" than all mankind in all the ages 
combined have ever dreamed of. We know we are here, 
but we do not know why. It is an unanswerable mystery 
why we are here, but because we do not know why we are 
here does that prove that we are not here ? Man is a proud, 
yes foolish, being, for he arrogates to himself all knowledge 
and admits nothing that he cannot see and understand, and 
yet he continually forgets that he is the creation of the 
Being of whom the Psalmist reverently said, "What is man 
that thou art mindful of him?" Our ancestors would 
have deemed the man worse than insane who would have 
predicted many of the things commonplace to us today, 



142 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

and so it is with us now. Many of our scientific men, 
refusing to investigate Spiritualism, are merely blind 
leaders of the blind. 

The ugly caterpillar dies, apparently, and emerges 
a beautiful butterfly. The caterpillar must instinctively 
scent a future existence or it would not wrap the crysalis 
around itself to protect its organism while God is making 
the change. 

The seed rots in the ground, but the essence of eternal 
life is there, and eventually the tree, or plant, or flower, 
breaks the soil and raises its head to sunshine and God. 
Truly, as the poet said, ' ' There is no death. ' ' 



CHAPTER XXV 

Some friends and acquaintances of mine, inclined to 
materialism, as I was at one time, years ago, have said to 
me, "Doctor, why make such a stir about Spiritualism! 
Even if the manifestations you set so much store on were 
anything more than unproved and unprovable ghost stories 
of what practical value would they be to us? Our birth 
is a mystery, our being here is a mystery, judging from 
the purposeless lives most of us live, and our leaving here 
is a mystery. All we can do is to make the most of the 
life here and now. We cannot see beyond the tomb, nor 
control anything beyond the tomb." 

All such objectors have of course little, if any, re- 
ligious ideas. They simply do not bother themselves with 
religious thought, or that is the way they put it. Most of 
them, practically all of them, are good citizens, paying their 
bills and refraining from annoying their neighbors in any 
way. They are the despair of the clergy for they refuse 
to go to church or to contribute to the church, and, what 
is worse in the eyes of the clergy, they do not seem to need 
the church. They are good, moral men, if not religious 
men. To these men I want to address myself first, and 
tell them why I think — in fact, why I know that Spirit- 
ualism has an everyday, practical value. 

I want to say to any one of these men, you go to sleep 
at night, confident that you will awaken in the morning, 
and you do awaken in the morning, confident, barring 
accidents, that you will get through another day's busi- 
ness. You go about all day with a scarcely-perceived idea, 
away down in your inner consciousness, that the world is 
a pretty safe place for you, and that it is good to be alive. 
You occasionally think of the poverty and crime around 

143 



144 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

you and you know that it is the exception, and not the 
rule of life, but your thoughts go no further than this, that 
the very poor and the wicked are in the minority, although 
there does seem to be an overwhelming number of both 
sometimes. 

Now, let us stop right here and reason for a moment 
over the world as you find it daily. Is not the fact that 
you feel so safe due to your unconscious belief that the 
dangerous and destructive elements, and the poor, diseased 
and weakly elements, in humanity are, in some way, kept 
in the minority and therefore in subjection ? Be honest with 
yourself and with me, now. "What is your answer? Yes, 
of course. Well, if that condition is the average in human 
life, does it not indicate that life is not only a good thing, 
but also that it has a beneficent purpose, that the human 
race and other things are controlled by law, and that the 
law-maker, or source of the law, is actuated by a kindly 
disposition towards us? In all nature about us we see 
the evidence of design and law, and in the human race we 
see that the selfishness that marks the evilly-disposed does 
not pay either them or anybody else. So, there is design 
in nature, and in human nature as much as in any other 
form, and that design is for peace, and for cultivation of 
all the human and kindly qualities that flourish only in 
times of peace. 

That much accepted? Well, then, if this kindly pur- 
pose is apparent to you why not make it apparent to all 
men and women about you? Your neighbors make your 
world for you. Help them to be contented or happy, and 
to look for even better things than they enjoy, and in that 
very act you ensure your own happiness. Let me use a 
saying right here from Swedenborg, the great religious 
and philosophical mystic: He said, rather paradoxically, 
"The more angels, the more room." That is only another 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 145 

way of saying that the more good neighbors you have the 
larger your neighborhood. Simple enough, is it not? So, 
to ensure your own happiness and safety, you must help 
your neighbors to happiness and safety. 

Very well, you answer, but you add, where and how 
shall I get exact knowledge as to the better ways of living 
and thinking, knowledge, not faith, knowledge that will 
impress and over-awe even the indifferent and the brutish? 
Will you follow me while I demonstrate that Spiritualism, 
and only Spiritualism, furnishes us with that knowledge — 
demonstrable knowledge, knowledge of moral and spiritual 
law as well-established as any visible, material, physical 
law, and, as, Huxley, the great English thinker, once said, 
law just as surely accompanied with consequences for obe- 
dience and disobedience as any physical law? I assume 
that you have read the rest of this book. If you are not 
satisfied with the evidence as you remember it read it again, 
and, if you are a fair-minded man, without prejudice, you 
will surely say with Sir William Crookes, one of the world 's 
most distinguished scientists, 

"To reject the recorded evidence on this subject, is 
to reject all human testimony whatever, for no fact in 
sacred or profane history is supported by a stronger array 
of proof." 

You will probably say with Dr. A. Conan Doyle, the 
author of the famous Sherlock Holmes stories with their 
marvelous interpretation of evidence in criminal matters, 
that 

"In spite of occasional fraud, which Spiritualists de- 
plore, and in spite of wild imaginings, which they discour- 
age, there remains a great solid core in this movement 
which is infinitely nearer to positive proof than any other 
religious development with which I am acquainted." 



146 NO, NOT DEAD; TREY LIVE 

You will say with. Roger W. Babson, famous business 
statistician, a man whose life is made up of hard, provable 
material, facts, upon which he bases his daily advice to 
business men, 

"Whether or not this (Spiritualism) is possible***** 
only an ignorant man would say that such a thing is im- 
possible. ' ' 

Having accepted the evidence, and you will accept it 
if you are an honest man, without bias, let us get at the 
main purport or meaning of all our spirit manifestations. 
We find, beyond doubt, that most of the messages coming 
to us from the spirits deal with matters of conduct on this 
earthly sphere, or are advice to those still here. We do 
not find in any of the messages any evil, obscene or mali- 
cious advice. No man or woman was ever driven to evil 
life by spirit messages, excepting those persons whose in- 
telligent and wilful impulses to evil courses are encour- 
aged by lost spirits — spirits who have committed the "un- 
pardonable sin" of rejecting all efforts to redeem them. 
No matter how far apart in time and place spirit manifes- 
tations may be they all agree in this: As our life is here 
so it will be over there, for the universe is governed by 
law, law for the physical and law for the spiritual, the 
mental and the moral. God himself is the Law-giver and 
is Law, and yet He is also Love for to every one of us 
He has given the power to redeem our errors and escape 
from the downward pull of evil impulses. This thought 
of God's mercy is beautifully expressed in the lines from 
Father Frederick William Faber 's hymn : 

"There's a wideness in God's mercy, 
Like the wideness of the sea; 
There's a kindness in His justice, 
"Which is more than liberty." 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 147 

"For the love of God is broader 

Than the measures of man's mind, 
And the heart of the Eternal 
Is most wonderfully kind. ' ' 

So we see that the universe is governed by an Intelli- 
gent Being, God, who is omnipotent, omniscient and omni- 
present, and, seeing in our every-day life that there is a 
saving balance on the right, or righteous side, we can 
only conclude that God, who holds the scales and tips the 
balance, has a beneficent or kindly purpose in all His crea- 
tion. Is not that thought more inspiring, and more logical, 
than the accidental, or materialistic view of the universe? 
Does not that thought make life more worth living f Is it 
not such a healthy, vigorous and sane religion as may be 
offered all men and women, and offered without silly emo- 
tion and self-righteous ravings and shoutings ? Is it not an 
every-day religion, a religion for the home, the office, the 
store and the factory, a religion to be discussed without 
sniffles, or cant, or superior airs towards our less-favored 
neighbors. In the language of the street, is it not a "he- 
man's" religion? 

I shall not use the stock argument of some of the 
church people, that because we have a great desire for 
immortality there is such a thing as immortality and there- 
fore God, who knows all our desires, will give us immor- 
tality, but I will say that bereavement — loss of wife, or 
children, or parents, or friends, makes us long for immor- 
tality, makes our hearts ache to see them again. We think 
of them with love, and with remorse too. If we could only 
see them again, we say to ourselves, how we would make 
up for lost opportunities, how we would atone to them for 
the unkind word, for the selfish act ! 0, God, we cry out 
in silent anguish when we are alone, let me see them 
again, let me tell them, let me try again! We seek for 



148 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

the consolation of faith, all that the churches offer us, but 
there is no peace there, and we turn our backs, almost 
contemptuously, upon Spiritualism, and yet Spiritualism, 
like an angel of light, stands beside us, offering us irrefuta- 
ble evidence that "they are risen," they are "over there, 
where there is no night, and no sorrow, no crying nor 
pain, for the former things are passed away." Why reject 
this great solace, this great inspiration for better life here, 
this certainty that if we make ourselves worthy in this 
earth-life, this school, we shall see them again, face to 
face, never more to part! 

Spiritualism has no quarrel with the churches, no 
differences with Christianity, for it is Christianity real- 
ized, it is faith made sight. It exalts Christ above all others 
in human history for it proves all He said about the here- 
after, and all He said about the importance of character 
and conduct here and now. Spiritualism makes religion 
the most substantial reality in the mind of man, and not 
a matter of belief for theologians to quarrel over and make 
a basis for new sects. It makes character the key to happi- 
ness here and hereafter. 



CHAPTER XXVI 

I have said that Spiritualism has no quarrel with 
Christianity, but that it is Christianity realized. Spirit- 
ualists, however, do protest in the most earnest way 
against any statement of Christianity that is based on the 
interpretation of a text, or set of texts. In answer to this 
— what I suppose I may call ' ' Textual ' ' Christianity, Spir- 
itualists point out the fact that the Scriptures warn us 
"The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." That is, 
it is the spirit of the text, rather than its form, that we 
should heed. 

This insistence upon the literal text is what I call 
' ' Bibliomania. ' ' Then there is the belief that some believ- 
ers can become so holy they cannot sin. In other words, 
they become sanctified, or, in my language, have Sancto- 
mania. 

Christomania is the belief that all one needs to get 
him, or her, to heaven, is belief that Christ was very God 
in the flesh, and that he was born on earth of a virgin, and 
came here to die and so wipe out the sins of those who 
might profess to believe in him. 

Then there is the anti-dancing, anti-drinking, anti- 
everything-in-the-way-of-social-pleasure person. People 
afflicted with a mania for interfering with other people's 
innocent pleasures insist, in one breath, upon acceptance of 
the Bible as a whole and in the next breath deny that Jesus 
made actual wine when, as the New Testament says, he 
converted water into wine. These curiously-minded per- 
sons also assert that Jesus did not drink when he sat down 
with the publicans and the sinners, but I have never heard 
any of them explain away Jesus' saying that "It is not 

149 



150 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

what goeth into the mouth, but what cometh out that 
defileth a man." 

There is another class of objectors to Spiritualism and 
that is the class of cultured and well-meaning and yet 
unintentionally-selfish people who believe that this life ends 
all, and that the most we can do is to leave kindly memo- 
ries of ourselves. As a rule they believe in charity in the 
larger and impersonal sense but are too self-absorbed, too 
much wrapped up in literary, philosophical and artistic 
diversions to indulge in direct and personal charity work. 
They act as if they thought that if all men and women 
would do as they do, would take them as examples of per- 
fectly proper living, all would be well with the world. They 
have a beautiful humanitarian faith which seldom gets 
beyond mere talk, usually in the form of parlor lectures, 
or ethical culture societies, and they quote with great 
approval George Eliot's poem, "O May I Join the Choir 
Invisible ' ' : 

' ' O may I join the choir invisible 

Of those immortal dead who live again 

In minds made better by their presence: live 

In pulses stirred to generosity. 

In deeds of daring rectitude, in scorn 

For miserable aims that end with self, 

In thoughts that pierce the night like stars, 

And with their mild persistence urge man's search 

To vaster issues." 

Beautiful poem ! Beautiful faith, and yet it does not 
meet the Scriptural challenge, for " Faith without works 
is dead." The faith of these people is as dead as a salted 
mackerel, to use an every-day expression, but it has not as 
much utility as a salted mackerel. The trouble with this 
sort of humanitarian faith is that it lacks the sense of 
responsibility. Morality, to these people, is a pretty and 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 151 

useful thing ; like honesty, it is the better or safer policy, 
but there is no particular reason for it aside from the fact 
that experience has justified it. 

What has Spiritualism to say to these people? I am 
tempted to quote from the Scriptures the words "Thou 
fool! This night thy soul shall be required of thee!" for 
Spiritualism proves the existence of a soul in each and 
every one of us. It also proves that the moral law is as 
well established as any physical law — that it is LAW and 
not, as these ""nice" people say, social usages or conven- 
tions. Spiritualism gives to life a meaning, a purpose. It 
tells us that life is a gift and that we will be held account- 
able for the way we use the gift. It tells us that life does 
not end all, but that it goes on forever, goes on and on, to 
joy or to despair and hopelessness, as we may elect and 
determine by our compliance or non-compliance with the 
moral law. It tells us that while we are the architects of 
our fate here and hereafter we cannot destroy the building, 
or the soul, by means of any pretty and comforting philoso- 
phy. We MUST account for our use of the soul, for our 
life in this earth school. We must be good neighbors, good 
citizens, good to our relatives and friends, or we will suffer 
accordingly in the life to come. 

So, to this self-satisfied class, Spiritualism is a tre- 
mendous awakening for it shows them their hollowness, 
their unwitting hypocrisy, and their need of a sense of 
responsibility, a sense of moral law, LAW not "social con- 
ventions." Impervious to every other form of religious 
appeal these people, when they learn that Spiritualism is 
true, that it deals with undeniable facts, are as much 
startled as was Belshazzar when he saw the handwriting 
on the wall. They see themselves ' ' weighed in the balance 
and found wanting." They see for the first time their 
littleness, their dependence, and they learn that God is 



152 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

GOD, that God is Good, and that nothing that defileth or 
maketh a lie shall find entrance to His higher heavens. There 
is law here and there is law there, and the law cannot be 
evaded: We must render unto God the things that are 
God's. We must live the moral faith and work out our 
salvation. There is no short cut any more than there is 
any hurry-up way for the acorn to become an oak tree. 
God is in His heavens, God sees all things, knows all things, 
and God rules all things. 

There is still another class of people, respectable and 
yet more intent upon pleasure and personal comfort than 
upon religious thought. They look after the education of 
their children, that is the secular education of their chil- 
dren, and it is to the general atmosphere of the school 
room, rather to positive teachings at home, that the chil- 
dren, as a rule, turn out well. These people sometimes 
attend church, and very often their children attend Sun- 
day school, or for their early years at least. Revivals some- 
times get this class of people, but they do not remain in 
the church, as a rule, because church doctrine does not hold 
them, does not interest them, and in fact seems like "much 
ado about nothing. ' s These people, with their ambition for 
their children, are unswerving patrons of the higher insti- 
tutions of learning, and while they have a dim perception 
of the connection of moral thought with real learning, 
knowledge of the universe, they yearn for some tangible 
and reasonable religious inspiration. They look to the 
church for the ' ' bread of life, ' ' but, alas, the church offers 
them only the stone of doctrine. They ask for light, and 
love and warmth, but the church says to them "Faith! 
Faith is what you need. Believe this doctrine or be 
damned!" And they turn away, bitterly disappointed, 
and in time become outspoken cynics and skeptics. 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 153 

This class of people, the so-called ' ' middle class, ' ' used 
to be the backbone of the church, but the church is steadily 
losing their support. This class has always supplied the 
bulk of the clergy, but it is now the lament of the church 
that it cannot fill its pulpits. It is openly admitted that 
no less than ten thousand Christian pulpits will be vacant 
this year, 1922. The church says the people "lack faith." 
Of course they do. In his sermon on the mount, Christ 
said : " Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask 
bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will 
he give him a serpent?" These people accept life as they 
find it and they make fairly good use of it, but they want 
some things explained. To give them children, for instance, 
and then take them away suddenly, is cruel, and makes 
<?od a monster, but in all the rest of nature God seems to 
be a beneficent being. Life is so short at the best, these 
people say, and why, then, does God gives us these little 
ones, teach us to love them as they wrap their little soft 
arms around our necks and snuggle up against our bosoms, 
and then suddenly tear them away from us? Is God a 
fiend in these human relations? No, God is not a fiend; 
God is love and all men are his children. 

This earth life is a school. We learn to love here and 
we are bereaved here, and both love and bereavement are 
parts of our spiritual education. These strongest of ties, 
love of friend, and parent, and brother, and sister, and 
one's own children, are the only real things in life; all 
else is dross and waste of time, waste of life, for 
time is life. We die and we take none of our material pos- 
sessions with us, none of the things that give us physical 
comfort here, none of the things that distinguish us socially 
from our fellow men and women, but we take with us our 
loves, for love is a function or feeling of the soul, and the 
soul is all that goes into the other world. If the soul is 



154 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

filled with love, love of the sort that makes for mercy and 
kindness towards our fellow-beings here, it will find itself 
well equipped for advancement in the spheres of the spirit 
world, for love, and only love, is the key to happiness here 
and hereafter. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

Spiritualism is the only rational agency for reforming 
mankind, or rather for leading men and women into better 
ways of living. Spiritualism proves that conduct is as 
inseparable from its consequences as is the figure four from 
the adding of two and two. Conduct and character, under 
Spiritualism, become grand and terrible realities. "What- 
soever a man soweth that also shall he reap," is the con- 
stant teaching of Spiritualism. Character becomes the 
grandest thing in human experience ; character is the only 
thing that will pay a man, and if he ignores character he 
commits spiritual suicide here and hereafter. 

Character is not attainable to all, my reader may say. 
I believe that it is attainable to most of us. I believe that 
if we humans had as much loyalty to one another, as much 
affection for one another as our dogs have for us the mil- 
lennium would be here within a year. That is a humiliat- 
ing comparison to make, my reader will probably say. I 
admit it: It is a humiliating comparison, but nevertheless 
I repeat it : If we had as much unselfishness and affection 
as our house dogs war and poverty would disappear, never 
again to trouble us. And yet we call the dogs dumb beasts, 
without intelligence or soul! Character is attainable to 
practically all of us, that is all intelligent human beings, 
and, under Spiritualism, character has proved compensa- 
tions, and the lack of character proved losses and punish- 
ments, that the church appears to know nothing about, and 
worse, the church says it does not want to know. On the 
contrary the church says ' ' There is a heaven of eternal rest 
and a hell of everlasting torment, but do not ask that this 
be proved to you. You must believe it, and you must be 
content with belief. Believe literally what the church tells 

155 



156 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

you or you will be surely damned, plunged into everlasting 
hell fire and brimstone." Spiritualism proves, Spiritual- 
ism convinces, and any one who has witnessed real Spirit- 
ualist manifestations remains steadfast, steadfast — not, as 
the church says, "steadfast in faith," but steadfast in 
belief, nay knowledge. Spiritualism puts religion upon a 
foundation of knowledge, upon the rock of ages — God's 
law, and not upon the shifting sands of sentiment, faith 
and belief. 

Spiritualist manifestations, when they become popular, 
will stay the hand of the deliberately wicked, showing them 
the folly of evil, while the manifestations will strengthen 
and inspire the weak, and help them develop into noble 
personalities. 

But, says some reader, if evil is banished from the 
world will not mankind stagnate. No, I reply, and I con- 
fess that the criticism makes me somewhat ' ' testy. ' ' Banish 
evil and you give the intellect full play in every man, 
woman and child. What then? Why, there are no two 
intellects alike, just as there are no two leaves alike, and 
with every intellect released from fear, worry, hatred and 
envy this old earth of ours will literally "blossom like a 
rose." Why, again? Because everybody will be employed 
at something useful, some productive pursuit, material or 
mental. Wireless telephony and other? wonders of the 
present day will seem like child's play compared with what 
mankind, redeemed from error, will discover and make use 
of within, say a year. Compared with what man can 
learn, and will learn, when he has sloughed off his evil 
thoughts and instincts, the man of today is a crawling 
infant. Take a really good, intelligently good man, and 
compare him with the average man, and you see the vast 
gulf between them, and yet the average man can be just 
as good, just as gentle and kind and yet strong and force- 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 157 

ful, as the good man. Both have the same gray substance 

in their heads, both have access to the same knowledge, 

and with evil removed both will have equal opportunities. 

What has been can be and shall be. Nothing is impossible 

with God, and the law of righteousness works for one man 

as it does for another. 

Spiritualism proves the existence of a soul in each and 

every one of us, and tells us that it behooves us to look to 

our own character and not the character of our neighbor. 

Instead of quoting Scripture here I will use a homely but 

pertinent little bit of verse: 

"What a mighty reformation we would witness through the land 
If the masses and the classes could be made to understand 
That he wins at least one sinner from dishonesty and pelf 
Who will let alone his neighbor and just practice on himself. ' ' 

"Let us push back our horizon to the edge of the earth 
and beyond. Let us cultivate the open mind, the observing 
eye, and the sympathetic heart." With a sympathetic 
heart we will cease to annoy our neighbor, and with an 
open mind and observing eye we will develop our own 
character and make this mortal body truly the temple of 
God, or Good. 

To the sincere church-member Spiritualism says the 
Scriptures are true, but, despite all the church says, the 
Scriptures do not afford ground for any doctrine or 
ecclesiastical system. Christ knew no such doctrines as 
the church teaches today in his name, and Christ said there 
are but two commandments, love of God and love of neigh- 
bor. "Upon these two," he said, "hang all the law and 
the prophets." Spiritualism prefers Christ to the church. 
Still, Spiritualism is not fighting the church. Spiritualism 
does not aim to establish any church system, any doctrinal 
pledges, any other bond of union between its adherents 
than acceptance of, and frank avowal of, the truth at all 
times and in all places. It has adherents in the church 



158 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

and it has adherents outside the church. It is not under- 
mining the church but, on the contrary, is offering the 
church unquestionable proof of the truth that is in Christ. 
Spiritualism does not say, with the church, "Believe this, 
and this, about Christ, no matter how contrary to fact it 
may seem to you," but it says Christ actually lived, per- 
formed miracles (so-called), was crucified and died, and 
was resurrected on the third day, just as the Scriptures 
relate. "We Spiritualists know these things. We never 
believed them except as we believe anything seen with our 
mortal eyes, and we have seen and heard enough in this 
twentieth century, from the spirit world, to convince us 
that (and I speak reverently) many of Christ's miracles 
have been duplicated in these modern times, and will be 
duplicated again, and as fast as our avowal of the truth 
will warrant. The spirits will not be trifled with. We 
Spiritualists must bravely stand for what we know to be 
true and further revelations will be given us to the extent 
that we merit them and no farther. 

The clergy, as a rule, are a hard-working and self- 
sacrificing class, but I will say, even at the expense of 
much criticism, that I never knew one who believed the 
doctrine he was pledged to teach, and to the credit of 
practically all the clergymen I know, or ever knew, they 
dodge the preaching of doctrine. Why, then, retain doc- 
trine, the dry husk of words, and reject the "bread of 
life, ' ' God 's truth % Why retain forms of words that make 
for hypocrisy? Why claim salvation here and hereafter 
when, by acceptance of a creed, we dodge Christ's test — 
the test of character? By our fruits we shall be known. 
Why not be honest with ourselves and with one another? 
Why not accept the truth as revealed by Spiritualism? 
What power houses of moral and spiritual energy the 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 159 

churches would be if they taught the truth as we Spirit- 
ualists know it ! 

Is there not reason to believe that the new dispensa- 
tion promised in the New Testament is really Spiritualism ? 
Compare the teachings of Spiritualism with the doctrines 
of the church. Spiritualism teaches a doctrine of retribu- 
tion that appeals to every man's sense of justice, teaches 
that we make our own heaven or hell, that we may redeem 
ourselves by repentance and amendment, and may meet 
our loved ones eventually, and live with them forever in 
joyous and eternal progress. Is there a church doctrine 
as hopeful and helpful, as inspiring? 

Take one of the church doctrines, that of predestina- 
tion for instance : ' ' God is love, ' ' the church teaches us in 
one breath, and then in the next breath warns us that some 
of us are doomed to hell, have always been doomed to hell, 
and some of us destined for heaven, regardless of our char- 
acter and conduct. Parents in heaven and their innocent 
children in hell! Is there any human being that would 
inflict such a frightful sentence ? How can we love such a 
monster as that sort of God ? Dare we question the right- 
eous indignation of such a good man, yes, good man, as 
the late Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll, when he said that such 
a Jehovah, if he should come to earth, would be put on 
bread and water, and in solitary confinement, forever ? No, 
God IS love, and not revenge. God's mercy is beyond our 
comprehension here and now, but it is MERCY, not hate 
for his own erring creatures, we humans in our brief jour- 
ney on this earthly plane. How dare people who call 
themselves intelligent, call themselves Christians (God save 
the mark!), libel God in such an infamous manner? Let 
us thank God for the better view that Spiritualism gives 
us, and let us tell the world that there is hope for even the 
worst. The God of Spiritualism seeks to redeem the world, 



160 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

not to destroy it, seeks to develop the best in us, and not 
punish us forever without a chance to redeem ourselves 
from error. Let us thank God for the better view that 
Spiritualism gives us and let us push on to the conquest 
of our fellow-men in the name of Love, Divine Love ! 

To the class of people who quote Colonel Ingersoll 
approvingly and say "Death ends all," and "Death is a 
leap into the dark," I commend the Colonel's change of 
views in his later years, when at his brother's funeral, 
he spoke of "The star of hope above this open grave." 
The Colonel was a brave man, a good man; he was too 
brave to avoid an admission that he had changed his 
views, and yet many of his followers to this day shrink 
from coming out as bravely as he did. It is my firm 
conviction that if the Colonel were living today he, as 
scholar and gentleman, would stand with Dr. Doyle, Sir 
William Crookes, Sir Oliver Lodge, and other famous men 
for the truth, for Spiritualism, for the Colonel loved the 
truth and, like the brave soldier he was, stood by his con- 
clusions. He never ran away from the evidence. 

Finally, and I hope I have not been "preachy," we 
all want to know whether, if a man die, he shall live again. 
I believe I have proved, with other pioneers in modern 
Spiritualism, that life is continuous, that our departed ones 
are waiting for us just beyond the veil. As J. L. McCreery 
says, over and over again, in the poem with which I close 
this argument, "There is no death!" 

"There is no death! The stars go down 

To rise upon some other shore, 
And bright in Heaven's jeweled crown 

They shine forevermore. 
There is no death! The forest leaves 

Convert to life the viewless air! 
The rocks disorganize to feed 

The hungry moss they bear. 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LITE 161 

There is no death ! The dust we tread 

Shall change, beneath the Summer showers, 
To golden grain, or mellow fruit, 

Or rainbow-tinted flowers. 
There is no death ! The leaves may fall, 

The flowers may fade and pass away 

They only wait, through "Wintry hours, 

The warm, sweet breath of May. 

There is no death! The choicest gifts 

That Heaven hath kindly lent to earth 
Are ever first to seek again 

The country of their birth. 
And all things that for growth or joy 

Are worthy of our love or care, 
Whose loss has left us desolate, 

Are safely garnered there. 

Though life becomes a dreary waste, 

We know its fairest, sweetest flowers, 
Transplanted into Paradise, 

Adorn immortal bowers. 
The voice of birdlike melody 

That we have missed and mourned so long, 
Now mingles with the angel choir 

In everlasting song. 

There is no death! Although we grieve 

When beautiful familiar forms 
That we have learned to love are torn 

From our embracing arms. 
Although with bowed and breaking heart, 

With sable garb and silent tread, 
We bear their senseless dust to rest, 

And say that they are 'dead.' 
They are not dead! They have but pagsed 

Beyond the mists that blind us here 
Into the new and larger life 

Of that serener sphere. 

They have but dropped their robes of clay 

To put their shining raiment on; 
They have not wandered far away — 

They are not 'lost' or 'gone.' 

Though disenthralled and glorified, 

They still are here and love us yet; 
The dear ones they have left behind 

They never 1 can forget. 

And sometimes when our hearts grow faint 

Amid temptations fierce and deep, 
Or when the wildly raging waves 

Of grief or passion sweep. 



L62 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 



We feel upon our fevered brow 

Their gentle touch, their breath of balm; 
Their arms enfold us, and our hearts 

Grow comfort and calm. 
And ever near us, though unseen, 

The dear, immortal spirits tread ; 
For all the boundless universe 

Is life — there are no dead." 



Contents of the Appendix 

Did She Predict Aright ? Mrs. Piper 's prophecy fulfilled. 

Search the Scriptures. Biblical proof of the truth of 
Spiritualism. 

Proof in the New Testament. Analysis by the late Dr. 
Hyslop. 

Talked With His Dead Wife. Rev. Russell H. Conwell's 
experience. 

Walking on Fire. Feat of three Hebrew children dupli- 
cated. 

A Playful Spirit. He locked out the undertaker. 

Weighing and Measuring Spirits. Scientists producing 
evidence. 

The Human Aura. Invisible light surrounding the human 
body. 

Strange Facts About the Senses. Powers possessed by 
dogs and insects. 

An Unquestionable Witness. Sir William Crookes' testi- 
mony. 

Lombroso, Scientist, Testifies. 

The Subconscious Mind. May be systematically educated. 

English Financial Authority Speaks. Ellis Thomas 
Powell's experiences. 

Investigate, Says the Popular Science Monthly. 

We Are Progressing. Thomas A. Edison says so. 

Why Are We Here? Materialism declining. 

This Life a Blessing. Cheer from Sir Oliver Lodge. 

Proof at Home. Directions for holding sittings. 

Qualities for Mediumship. 

The Smallest Thing. A discussion by the elements. 

This Wonderful Human Frame. 

Which Way Lies Peace ? 

The First Shall be Last. A poem. 

Testimony of Scientific Men. Drift of opinion. 

163 



DID SHE PREDICT ARIGHT ? 

A celebrated psychic, Mrs. Piper, uttered in the year 
1899 words which were recorded by Dr. Hodgson at the 
time. She was speaking in trance upon the future of spir- 
itual religion, and she said: i( In the next century this will 
be astonishingly perceptible to the minds of men. I will 
also make a statement which you will surely see verified. 
Before the clear revelation of spirit communication there 
will be a terrible war in different parts of the world. The 
entire world must be purified and cleansed before mortal 
man can see, through his spiritual vision, his friends on 
this side, and it will take just this line of action to bring 
about a state of perfection. Friend, kindly think of this." 

We have had "the terrible war in different parts of 
the world." 



SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES 

For in them the student will find ample evidence that 
God does not leave the bereaved comfortless 



At the cost of some labor I have collected a number of 
Scriptural extracts showing that the Bible everywhere tells 
of life, intelligent life, after the change called death : 

ANGELS 

And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of 
water in the wilderness. Genesis, 16 : 7. 

He shall send his angel before thee. Genesis 24 : 7. 
164 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 165 

Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee in 
the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have pre- 
pared. Exodus 23 : 20. 

And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the 
way, and his sword drawn in his hand. Numbers 22 : 23. 

And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and 
said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man 
of valor. Judges 6 : 12. 

And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman. 
Judges 13 : 3. 

For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward 
heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the Lord 
ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his 
wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground. 
Judges 13: 20. 

And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, 
then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and 
eat. I Kings 19: 5. 

And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the 
Lord stand between the earth and the heaven. I Chronicles 
21: 16. 

The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them 
that fear him, and delivereth them. Psalms 34 : 7. 

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep 
thee in all thy ways. Psalms 91 : 11. 

And the angel that talked with me came again, and 
waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep. 
Zechariah 4: 1. 

But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel 
of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream. Matthew 1 : 20. 

And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear 
not ye : for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. 
Matthew 28 : 5. 



166 NO, NOT BEAD; THEY LIVE 

And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord 
standing on the right side of the altar of incense. Luke 
1: 11. 

But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias : for 
thy prayer is heard. Luke 1: 13. 

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and 
the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they 
were sore afraid. Luke 2: 10. 

And suddenly there was with the angels a multitude 
of the heavenly host praising God. Luke 2 : 13. 

But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison 
doors, and brought them forth. Acts 5 : 19. 

And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on 
him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. Acts 
6: 15. 

And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, 
Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth 
down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. Acts 
8: 26. 

And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, 
and a light shined in the prison. Acts 12 : 7. 

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby 
some have entertained angels unawares. Hebrews 13 : 2. 

CLAIRVOYANCE 

For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with 
you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the 
steadfastness of your faith in Christ. Colossians 2: 5. 

For I verily, as absent in body, but present in Spirit, 
have judged already, as though I were present, concerning 
him that hath so done this deed. I Corinthians 5: 3. 

DREAMS 

And God said unto him in a dream. Genesis 20 : 6. 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 167 

And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the 
earth, and the top of it reached to heaven : and behold the 
angels of God ascending and descending on it. Genesis 
28: 12. 

And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, say- 
ing, Jacob : And I said, Here am I. Genesis 31 : 11. 

And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his 
brethren. Genesis 37: 6. 

And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph. Gene- 
sis 40 : 9. 

In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream 
by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. I 
Kings 3: 5. 

IMMORTALITY 

If a man die shall he live again? all the days of my 
appointed time will I wait till my change come. Job 14 : 14. 

And though after my skin worms destroy this body, 
yet in my flesh shall I see God: 

Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall be- 
hold, and not another; though my reins be consumed 
within me. Job 19 : 26-27. 

That he should still live forever and not see corruption. 
Psalms 49 : 9. 

Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your re- 
ward in heaven. Matthew 5: 12. 

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth***** 
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Matthew 
6 : 19-20. 

And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist ; 
he is risen from the dead ; and therefore mighty works do 
shew forth themselves in him. Matthew 14: 2. 

And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, 
Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit : and having 
said thus, he gave up the ghost. Matthew 23 : 46. 



168 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, 
yielded up the ghost. Matthew 27 : 50. 

He is not here : for he is risen, as he said. Come, see 
the place where the Lord lay. Matthew 28 : 6. 

And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To- 
day shalt thou be with me in Paradise. Luke 23 : 43. 

Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself : 
handle me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, 
as ye see me have. Luke 24 : 39. 

In my father's house are many mansions: if it were 
not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for 
you. John 14: 2. 

Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; 
but ye see me : because I live, ye shall live also. John 14 : 19. 

And have hope toward God, which they themselves also 
allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both 
of the just and the unjust. Acts 24: 15. 

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time 
are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall 
be revealed in us. Romans 8 : 18. 

And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the 
mind of the spirit, because he maketh intercession for the 
saints according to the will of God. Romans 8 : 27. 

But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is 
Christ not risen: 

And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, 
and your faith is also vain. I Corinthians 15 : 13-14. 

It is sown a natural body ; it is raised a spiritual body. 
There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. I 
Corinthians 15: 44. 

Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual but that 
which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 
I Corinthians 15: 46. 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LITE 169 

And as we have borne the image of the earthy we shall 
also bear the image of the heavenly. I Corinthians 15 : 49. 

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and 
this mortal must put on immortality. I Corinthians 15 : 53. 

Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that 
which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 
I Corinthians 15 : 46. 

And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we 
shall also bear the image of the heavenly. I Corinthians 
15 : 49. 

O death, where is thy sting? grave, where is thy 
victory? I Corinthians 15: 55. 

MARRIAGE 

For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are 
given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. 
Matthew 22 : 30. 

MIRACLES 

He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walk- 
ing in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt ; and the 
form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Daniel 3 : 25. 

When thou passest through the waters, I will be with 
thee ; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee : 
when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be 
burned; neither shall the flames kindle upon thee. Isaiah 
43: 2. 

And they were all amazed, insomuch that they ques- 
tioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this ? what 
new doctrine is this ? for with what authority commandeth 
he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him. Mark 
1: 27. 

And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto 
her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I 
say unto thee, arise. Mark 5: 41. 



170 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no 
miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were 
true. John 10 : 41. 

Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. 
John 11 : 23. 

And Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and 
prayed : and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. 
And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter she 
sat up. Acts 9: 41. 

To another the working of miracles ; to another proph- 
ecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers 
kinds of tongues ; to another the interpretation of tongues. 
I Corinthians 12: 10. 

PROPHECY 

And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour 
out my spirit upon all flesh ; and your sons and your daugh- 
ters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your 
young men shall see visions. Joel 2: 28. 

RETRIBUTION 

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not 
able to kill the soul. Matthew 10 : 28. 

For what is a man profited if he gain the whole world 
and lose his own soul. Matthew 16 : 26. 

For he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap 
corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the 
Spirit reap life everlasting. Galatians 6: 8. 

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever 
a man soweth, that also shall he reap. Galatians 6:7. 

SPIRITS 

And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God and say- 
ing, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Acts 7 : 59. 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 171 

Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to min- 
ister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? Hebrews 
1: 14. 

And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried 
with a loud voice, he came out of him. Mark 1 : 26. 

And when he was come out the ship, immediately there 
met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 
Mark 5 : 2. 

For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou 
unclean spirit. Mark 5 : 8. 

When Jesus saw that the people came running to- 
gether, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou 
dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and 
enter no more into him. Mark 9: 25. 

And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the 
child, and delivered him again to his father. Luke 9 : 42. 

Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits 
are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your 
names are written in heaven. Luke 10 : 20. 

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits 
whether they are of God : because many false prophets are 
gone out into the world. I John 4 : 1. 

For as the body without the spirit is dead so faith 
without works is dead also. James 2 : 26. 

For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, 
neither angel nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both. 
Acts 23 : 8. 

VISIONS 

And he said, Hear now my words; If there be a 
prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known 
unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. 
Numbers 12: 6. 



172 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night 
vision. Daniel 2 : 19. 

In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a 
vision appeared unto me, even unto me, Daniel, after that 
which appeared unto me at the first. Daniel 8 : 1. 

And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, 
that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses 
of fire, and parted them both asunder ; and Elijah went up 
by a whirlwind into heaven. II Kings 11. 

And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straight- 
way out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened 
unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a 
dove, and lighting upon him. Matthew 3 : 16. 

And was transfigured before them: and his face did 
shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. 

And behold, there appeared unto them, Moses and 
Elias talking with him. Matthew 17: 2-3. 

After he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat. 
Mark 16 : 14. 

Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the 
week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalen, out of whom 
he had cast seven devils. Mark 16 : 9. 

And when they found not his body, they came, saying, 
that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that 
he was alive. Luke 24: 23. 

Saying, the Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared 
to Simon. Luke 24 : 34. 

When therefore he was risen from the dead, his dis- 
ciples remembered that he had said this unto them. John 
2: 22. 

This is now the third time that Jesus showed himself 
to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead. 
John 21 : 14. 



NO, NOT DEAD; TEEY LITE 173 

And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like 
as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. Acts 2 : 3. 

While Peter thought on the vision, the spirit said unto 
him, Behold, three men seek thee. Acts 10 : 19. 

But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, 
and expounded it by order unto them, saying, 

I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance 
I saw a vision. Acts 11 : 4-5. 

And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. Acts 
16: 9. 

Now that he was caught up into paradise, and heard 
unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to 
utter. II Corinthians 12: 4. 

And immediately I was in the spirit: and behold, a 
throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. Rev- 
elations 4: 2. 

So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilder- 
ness. Revelations 17: 3. 

VOICES 

And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she 
said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou 
hast smitten me these three times? Numbers 22: 28. 

And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other 
times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; 
for thy servant heareth. I Samuel 3 : 10. 

And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved 
Son, in whom I am well pleased. Matthew 3 : 17. 

And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven as 
of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where 
they were sitting. Acts 2: 2. 

While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshad- 
owed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which 



174 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LITE 



said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; 
hear ye him. Matthew 17 : 5. 

The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said 
that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him. 
John 12 : 29. 

And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the 
Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, 
and prophesied. Acts 19: 6. 

And I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me, 

Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from 
henceforth : Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from 
their labors, and their works do follow them. Kevelations 
.14: 13. 

Here is a list, off-hand, of Scripture characters who 
saw and talked with spirits: 



Adam (Gen. 3-9 

Eve (Gen. 3-13 

Cain (Gen. 4-9 

Noah (Gen. 6-13 

Abraham (Gen. 17-1 

Lot (Gen. 19-1 

Isaac (Gen. 26-24 

Laban (Gen. 31-24 

Jacob (Gen. 32-30 

Moses (Exodus 33-11 

Balaam (Num. 22-31 

Joshua (Josh. 1-1 

The Jews (Judges 2-4 

and 13-11 

Manoah (Judges 13-18 

Manoah's wife (Judges 13- 

and 9 

Samuel (Samuel 3-11 

Saul (Samuel 28 



David (2. Samuel 5-19) 

Solomon (1. Kings 3-5 and 

1. Kings 18) 

Elijah (1. Kings 18-1) 

Elisha (2. Kings 2-12) 

His Servants (2. Kings 6-17) 

Daniel (Daniel 10-5) 

Eliphaz (Job 4-15) 

Ezekiel (Ezekial 3-2) 

Nebuchadnezzar. . . (Daniel 3-25) 

Belshazzar (Daniel 5-5) 

Amos (Amos 9-1) 

Zechariah. (Zech. 3-1) 

Jesus (Mark 9-4) 

Peter (Matt. 17-13 and 

Acts 10-13) 

James (Matt. 17-3) 

John (Eev. 19-10 

and 22-9) 
Saul (Acts 9-4) 



PROOF IN THE NEW TESTAMENT 



The late Dr. Hyslop's analysis of phenomena accepted 

by Christians while they deny the same 

manifestations today. 



In the Journal of the American Society for Psychical 
Research the late Dr. James H. Hyslop discusses the New 
Testament proofs of discarnate spirits, as follows: 

"The New Testament has many indications of the 
presence of psychic phenomena in connection with the 
origin and early progress of Christianity. 

' ' Two things are to be considered as affecting the state 
of mind before Christ appeared. The first is Jewish his- 
tory, and the second is the effect of Greek philosophy. Both 
of these are suggested in words of St. Paul, 'the Jews ask 
a sign (a miracle) and the Greeks seek after wisdom.' (I 
Corinthians 1-22). Here he characterized the two types of 
mind of that time perfectly. The intellectual tendencies 
of both offered the temptation to meet the demand in the 
way to satisfy it. Politically the Jewish mind had sought 
salvation in a temporal king and had for ages turned away 
from what mediumship might have promised under proper 
study. The persecutions of 'witches' reveal the attitude 
of the ecclesiastical authorities, and yet the story of the 
Woman of Endor shows what was going on among the 
common people. It is probable that the whole higher move- 
ment for Hebrew monotheism had been inspired by the 
necessity of ridding the masses of fetishism and animism. 
Hence the attack on witchcraft which, in the form which 
it had among savages and uncivilized people, resulted in 
superstition and gross immorality. In some way it had 
to be eradicated, and philosophy and religion combined to 
effect this object, using the civil code for the purpose. But 

175 



176 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

just to that extent did they tend to deprive the popular 
mind of its belief in a spiritual world beyond death. 

"Materialism became the prevalent mode of thought. 
A fundamental feature of that materialism was that it 
denied the immortality of the soul. Strange to say, it ad- 
mitted the existence of a soul, an ethereal or refined mate- 
rial organism. But it asserted, nevertheless, that it per- 
ished with the body. On one point, it touched the springs 
of polytheism: it admitted the existence of the gods, 
whom we could see in our dreams, but it placed them in 
the intermundium, a place between the worlds, and gave 
them no power whatever over human or physical events. It 
sought the explanation of all events in physical causes. 

"The two fundamental things in primitive Christian- 
ity relating to our theme were the doctrine of the resur- 
rection and the 'miracle.' The story of Christ's birth 
hardly concerns the present issue. The resurrection and 
'miracles' are of chief interest in denning early Chris- 
tianity, the one expressing a philosophic doctrine, and the 
other meeting a demand which St. Paul said was charac- 
teristic of the Jews: namely, for a sign or supernormal 
proof. 

"Anyone who thinks that Christ's resurrection or the 
story of it was the first source of the Christian belief in 
immortality has slight acquaintance with the New Testa- 
ment. The utmost that could be claimed for the event 
ascribed to Christ was that it was evidence of a view 
already held. The whole problem of immortality was 
worked out in philosophic thought before any real or 
alleged event of the resurrection of Christ was told. This 
is most clearly shown in the controversy between the Phari- 
sees and Saddueees and in one or two other incidents in 
the New Testament. The Pharisees believed in the resur- 
rection ; the Saddueees denied it, and the whole matter had 
been discussed long before. How did this probably come 
about ? 

"It is worth noting that in early classical literature 
the Greek word for 'resurrection,' both in the substan- 
tive and in the verbal form, was used to denote rising from 
the dead. It is found at least three times in Homer's 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 177 

Iliad, three times in iEschylus, once in Herodotus, and 
once in Sophocles, and perhaps many times elsewhere. But 
these suffice to show that the idea of the resurrection ante- 
dated Christianity a long time, and it perhaps took a less 
objectionable form than the resurrection of the physical 
body. But that aside, the main point is that the idea did 
not arise with the event ascribed to Christ, but was even a 
well established belief in his time prior to his own death, 
and represented a scientific reply to Epicureanism. 

''Ancient materialism was inconsistent in admitting 
the existence of a soul, tho denying its survival. Its doc- 
trine of the ethereal organism enabled opponents to sup- 
pose that survival came under the general hypothesis of 
the persistence of matter, the ether being nothing more or 
less than a fine type of matter. Then the existence of 
apparitions or ghosts, on any theory of them, would nat- 
urally be explained by the theory of the ethereal body. All 
that the advocates of survival would have to do would be 
to appeal to the common belief in ghosts and the sceptical 
Sadducees would have to discredit the alleged facts in 
order to escape the conclusion. If they had not admitted 
the existence of a soul, they would not be bound by either 
the facts or the interpretation of them. Later materialism 
took that course. It interpreted consciousness as the func- 
tion of the organism, not a manifestation of a soul, and 
hence could resort to hallucination and all sorts of explana- 
tions of apparitions. 

"I have remarked that the 'miracles' were the sec- 
ond class of phenomena on which Christianity rested. Not 
all of these had a psychic interest. Some of them were 
purely physical marvels and not even of the type that has 
received the attention of psychic researchers. The major- 
ity of them, however, were phenomena of healing and have 
a psychic character. With others the psychic researcher 
is perfectly familiar and to these I shall first appeal to 
prove that Christianity was integrally associated with 
psychic phenomena. 

"The first instance of which mention can be made is 
the story of the Transfiguration and the appearance of 
Moses and Elias, Matthew xvii, verses 1 to 13 inclusively. 



178 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

Here we have alleged phenomena with which we are per- 
fectly familiar in mediumistic experiences, experimental 
and spontaneous. Apparitions often or usually occur 
without any transfiguration. But modifications of the face 
both in respect of the muscles and the appearance in 
respect to light have been noticed. It matters not if these 
are illusions or hallucinations in the observer, they are 
experiences which may be described as transfigurations, 
and they suggest what may have occurred on the occasion 
under review. Nor does it make any difference if the 
whole story is a myth. The point is that such phenomena 
as apparitions, hallucinations or not, have to occur in order 
to give rise even to myths. The fabrication has to be based 
upon some sort of fact. 

"The second instance to be noted is that of Christ 
walking on the water. (Matthew xiv, 22-26 ; Mark vi, 46- 
52; and John vi, 17-21.) Matthew's and Mark's accounts 
say that the disciples thought it was a spirit, showing an 
interpretation more consistent with normal experience than 
the hypothesis of his physical presence in such a place, and 
clearly indicating familiarity with the real or alleged phe- 
nomena of apparitions. 

' ' The next is St. Paul 's vision on the way to Damascus, 
which resulted in his conversion to Christianity. The 
three accounts of it are not perfectly consistent in all 
details, but are so in the main features. And it is probably 
the best authenticated incident of the kind in the New 
Testament, supported by the authority of St. Paul himself. 
Most of the other incidents are second-hand. St. Paul saw 
a light and did not recognize the cause of it until he heard 
the voice which claimed to be that of Jesus. In one account 
St. Paul seems to have been the only person who heard the 
voice ; in another, those with him heard a voice but saw no 
one. In the third, which St. Paul tells, these persons did 
not hear the voice but saw the light. In all, St. Paul saw 
the light and heard the voice, two of the accounts purport- 
ing to be by himself. 

"Here again we have the phenomenon of an appari- 
tion, visual and auditory, a case of combined clairvoyance 
and clairaudience illustrating the phenomena of sensory 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 179 

automatisms. These suffice to show us how a story of the 
resurrection might arise and how a theory of it might 
exist before it was applied to Christ, and so represent not 
an exceptional, but a common and familiar fact. But we 
have the main incidents of the New Testament in this 
respect revealing the existence of the phenomena which 
naturally appeared miraculous or supernatural to the ob- 
servers, and which, whatever you call them, have been 
verified in thousands of instances in modern times; and 
religion and science, both in mortal combat, hold out 
against their significance or disregard the connection 
between them and New Testament times. 

' ' There was an incident in Christ 's life that illustrated 
another phase of psychic phenomena. I refer to his con- 
versation with the woman at the well. (Compare John 
iv, 7-20.) As the story is told, he met an entire stranger 
and discovered clairvoyantly, or better perhaps, medium- 
istically, that she has had five husbands and that the man 
she was then living with was not her husband. She at 
once recognized him as a prophet, which indicates that 
psychic power was supposed to characterize the prophets. 
The same phenomenon occurs with our modern mediums 
constantly, in connection with experimental incidents re- 
corded at the time, not spontaneous incidents depending 
on the memory for their integrity. Here again, then, we 
find Christ in the role of a psychic in phenomena, the type 
of which is perfectly familiar with us and verifiable experi- 
mentally, whether you choose to explain it by telepathy 
or spiritistic intervention. 

' ' On the day of Pentecost it was said that people of all 
nations met together and each nation heard his own 
language spoken by persons who did not know it. The 
account begins with an allusion to the 'sound of a rushing, 
mighty wind from heaven,' a phenomenon that is often 
remarked in the seance room or in connection with psychic 
experiences, only the experience would not be described 
in such strong terms. Probably or possibly there may 
be some exaggeration in this phrase and in other descrip- 
tive features, but whether credible or not, the events alleged 



180 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LITE 

are of a type with which we are familiar to some extent in 
modern psychic experiences. 

"The most conspicuous phenomena of the New Testa- 
ment bearing upon the issue here are the 'miracles' of 
healing. However, this may be, primitive Christianity was 
concerned more with ethics and healing than with cos- 
mology or theology, and as the ' miracles, ' purporting to set 
aside speculative materialism, affected those points of view 
they became the chief object of interest. But it would 
have been better for the church to have concentrated on 
ethical organization and spiritual healing as did Christ and 
the apostles. 

"The Gospel of Matthew mentions eighteen cases of 
healing, the withering of the fig tree, Christ walking on 
the water, the Transfiguration, and the Resurrection. Luke 
mentions twenty instances of healing, the appearance of 
Christ on the way to Emmaus, the raising of Lazarus, and 
the Transfiguration, and some apparitional incidents con- 
nected with the Resurrection. John mentions four cases 
of healing, the raising of Lazarus, and Christ walking on 
the water. The Acts of the Apostles mentions two instances 
of healing, the vision and the rescue of Peter from prison, 
and the incidents connected with the conversion of St. 
Paul. After these the whole subject of healing and 
'miracles' seems to have been dropped. The Epistle to 
the Romans mentions none of them as narrative events, 
and the latter parts of the New Testament are as clear of 
them as the literature that marks the decline of 'miracles' 
in later ages. They are practically confined to the four 
Gospels, as the statistical account shows. 

' ' I shall call attention to only two instances of healing 
which reflect very clearly, one of them the process and the 
other the fact of healing at a distance. The first instance 
was the raising of Jairus' daughter. Mark's account (v, 
22-43) is fuller than that of Matthew (ix, 18-26) and Luke 
(viii, 49-56). A ruler came and said his daughter lay at 
the point of death and asked Christ to heal her. Before 
Christ could respond, someone came and told the father 
that it was too late and that his daughter was already dead. 
But Christ went with him and turned out all those in the 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 181 

room and took the father and mother with Peter, James 
and John into the room, and told them that the child was 
not dead but sleeping. He then simply awakened her from 
the trance or comatose condition by 'suggestion.' The 
whole process of removing the mourners and taking in with 
him those whose presence might be helpful and diagnosing 
it as trance simulating death, and then by simple sugges- 
tion restoring the child, would recall the Nancy and Sal- 
petriere work, and also much of the work in the Emmanuel 
movement. 

"The second instance is in John iv, 46-54. A noble- 
man came to Christ to have his son cured, requesting Christ 
to come quickly. Christ simply answered: 'Go thy way; 
thy son liveth.' When he arrived home he found his son 
better and improving. He asked the servants when this 
happened, and they replied that it was about the seventh 
hour. This coincided with the time that Christ had told 
the nobleman his son would get well. Here we have the 
coincidence in time observed and recorded by the father 
as proof of the cure. Besides, it should be noticed that 
it was absent treatment, a phenomenon with which we are 
familiar today, though instances of it have not been col- 
lected in such a way as is desirable. There were several 
other instances in the New Testament of absent cure. Mark 
vii, 24-30, and Luke vii, 1-10 are records of it. 

"We have a fair indication in modern times in what 
we know of mental healing of what probably occurred in 
these early times. Medicine no longer questions the value 
of suggestion and mental healing, and many remarkable 
cures have occurred which orthodox medicine would not 
believe until forced by the facts to do so. 

"The phenomena of mediumistic healing are plentiful 
today. They have not been scientifically investigated as 
yet, either to see what can be done, or to ascertain the 
nature of it. But those familiar with the process can 
recognize a probable verification of what took place in the 
New Testament times. Lecky thinks that the belief in 
'miracles,' including those of spiritual healing, gradually 
declined because of the growth in physical knowledge and 
general scientific intelligence. This was no doubt a factor 
in the disappearance of them. But this would hardly have 



182 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

occurred if the healing had continued as in the early times, 
or had been systematically investigated and applied. Sal- 
vation gradually became a matter of a theological creed and 
philosophy took hold of Christianity and enfeebled its 
pragmatic tendencies, and this, with the disuse of healing 
powers, whether for good or bad reasons, has as much to do 
with the decline of healing as any change in scientific 
knowledge. 

"One more idea may be mentioned: it is that of 
Angels. We have come to look at that term as denoting a 
spiritual being without any implication of its function or 
activity. But its original meaning was that of a Messen- 
ger and in religious parlance it came to mean a messenger 
between the dead and the living. This was the Old Testa- 
ment conception decidedly, and only the disappearance 
from Christian thought of a intercommunication between 
the living and the dead deprived the term of its older sig- 
nification. 

"It does not require any exposition to indicate the 
meaning of all this for a new interpretation of the New 
Testament. It will bring Christ's life teaching and work 
into the domain of science. No doubt the majority of 
Christian believers will resent any such interpretation, 
but I do not believe those who have intelligently tried to 
find the unity between the physical sciences and the ethical 
and spiritual life of man will feel any qualms about it. 
This age needs a reconciliation between religion and sci- 
ence, even though the reconciliation involves the entire 
triumph of science. The very nature of science as the 
investigation of the present moment or the verification in 
present experience of the claims made about nature and 
history, and the existence of democratic institutions, with 
the extension of education and freedom of thought, make 
it impossible to obtain all our knowledge from the ancients 
or traditions of any kind. We insist on seeing and know- 
ing things for ourselves and testing every claim of the past 
by our present experience. If science, therefore, cannot 
verify the stories told in the New Testament, or ascertain 
just what truth they really or probably represent, the 
credal part of it will not stand and the fundamental ideas 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 183 

which gave it the strength and interest it possesses will 
suffer accordingly. 

' ' But the general study of history and of what has been 
accomplished in modern psychology will vindicate the 
probability that Christianity originated in psychic phe- 
nomena, and when we can eliminate the mythical element 
from the accounts of it, we may discover just what Christ 
was and just what he did. But if you wish to get a 
reconciliation between his teaching and that of modern 
science, it must be in the verification of the phenomena 
which appeared in the 'miracles,' not because they are 
'miracles' in the historical sense of that term, but because 
they represent facts of nature quite as much as gravitation 
or chemical affinity. Let us once verify survival after 
death and the doctrine of spiritual healing, and both the 
philosophical and the pragmatic side of Christianity will 
obtain their vindication, and the sting will be taken out 
of science, as well as out of illusions about historical Chris- 
tianity. 

"The interpretation of Christianity here hinted at 
makes it a scientific religion. When Mr. Myers remarked 
in his last work that the next generation would believe in 
the resurrection of Christ, he had a correct conception of 
what psychic research meant for the reinterpretation and 
reconstruction of the Biblical system and perhaps the 
foundation of all other religions. We shall not return to 
the naive conceptions of the past about them, but we shall 
find that, in spite of mythopceic distortions, there will be 
a certain amount of truth in the various phenomena re- 
ported in the New Testament. Just in proportion as we 
can reproduce them can we believe that they occurred in 
the past. But as long as we fail to reproduce them we 
shall have to suspend judgment about them or disregard 
them in our belief and conduct." 



TALKED WITH HIS "DEAD" WIFE 



Eev. Russell H. Conwell, Philadelphia's loved edu- 
cator, GIVES A CIRCUMSTANTIAL AND CONVINCING 
ACCOUNT OF HIS EXPERIENCE. 



As a vision, within and then without, a dream, Rev. 
Russell H. Conwell, the famous Baptist pastor of Phila- 
delphia and founder of the Temple University, has repeat- 
edly related this experience of bis: 

"Some years ago I had a dream that recurred every 
morning just before I awoke. It seemed to me that the 
figure of Mrs. Conwell appeared each morning and sat 
smiling at the foot of my bed. I said nothing about it to 
anyone ; it must be, I thought, a delusion of age. Yet the 
figure was as real as life, smiling, and asking questions 
and answering my own. 

"One morning I said, or seemed to myself to say, 'I 
know you aren't really there.' 

" 'Oh, but I am!' she replied. 

" 'But how can I be sure?' I persisted. 'Are you 
willing that I should test you?' 

"She nodded, still smiling. 

" 'All right,' I said. 'Tomorrow I will ask you a 
question. Will you be ready for it?' 

"She nodded again, and with another smile disap- 
peared. The next morning she was there again. 

" ' I see you have come, ' I said. ' Are you still willing f ' 

"She smiled and nodded, seeming to enjoy it all im- 
mensely. 

" 'Tell me then, where is my army discharge paper?' 
I had not seen it for years, and to the best of my knowl- 
edge was utterly ignorant of its whereabouts. 

" In a voice that seemed as distinct as though she had 
uttered the words aloud, she answered, 'Why, it is in the 
black japanned box behind the books in your library.' 

184 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 185 

"I got out of bed and went into the library. There, 
after some search, I found the box, hidden away behind a 
row of books ; and in it, under a varied collection of docu- 
ments, was the discharge paper. 

"Again the next morning she appeared, with a little 
smile of triumph, as if to say, 'You see it was there, just 
as I told you ; now will you believe ? ' But I was not sat- 
isfied, of course, I asked her if I might make another test, 
and with the same happy smile, as though the game enter- 
tained her greatly, she promised again. 

"That morning at breakfast I spoke to one of the 
maids, who had lived with us for fourteen years. 

" 'Mary, you remember the gold fountain pen that 
Mrs. Conwell gave me years ago. I want you to take it 
off my desk today and hide it. And you are not to tell me 
or anyone else where you hide it. Do you understand 1 ?' 

"Again the next morning the figure appeared, and we 
seemed to joke about it all for a little while. Finally I 
said: 

' ' ' Do you know where Mary hid my pen ? ' 

'"Of course I do.' 

" 'Can you tell me the place?' 

" 'Get out of bed and come with me,' she answered 
laughingly. 

"I rose, and seeming to hold her hand was led to one 
of the closets in my room. The top shelf of the closet had 
been built into a little closet with a door which covered 
only a part of the closet front. She motioned me to it, and 
I took a chair and climbed up. I ran my hand over the 
shelf this way and that, but without encountering the 
pen. I felt then that the whole thing must have been a 
delusion, and turned to step down from the chair. 

"But she was still in the doorway and pointed again 
to the shelf, shaking her head emphatically, as if to say, 
' It is there ! Look again ; you will find it. ' 

' ' I did look again. I stretched my hand far in behind 
the door on either side, and this time, to my amazement, 
I found the pen." 



WALKING ON FIRE 



Feat of three Hebrew children of Holy Writ dupli- 
cated by natives of the South Sea Islands. 



Observing and thoughtful men of all sorts, pleasure- 
seeking travelers as well as scientists, have noticed a uni- 
formity of spirit manifestations throughout the world, 
among unlettered savages as well as among civilized 
peoples. In his book, "Mystic Isles of the South Seas," 
Frederick O 'Brien, points out that Babylon, Egypt, India, 
Malaysia, North America, Japan and scattered Maoris from 
Hawaii to New Zealand had religious ceremonies in which 
a seemingly-miraculous power over fire was demonstrated 
beyond question. 

In one of the South Sea Islands Mr. O'Brien saw a 
procession of barefooted natives walk unharmed over a 
great mass of stones red and white from heat, while flames 
from burning wood leaped from between the stones. 
O 'Brien felt the heat fifty feet away. 

After a chant by a native priest, who was naked except 
for a thin robe extending from his shoulders to his knees, 
he walked unharmed over the flames and fiery stones, and 
he retraced his steps slowly and deliberately. He did not 
betray any sign of pain or fear, and at his command a 
long procession of the natives followed him back and forth 
over the stones six times. One woman, apparently disre- 
garding orders or lacking faith, stumbled and fell and was 
so badly burned that six weeks elapsed before she was 
cured. 

186 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 187 

O'Brien examined a number of the natives who had 
walked over the stones and flames and found that not even 
the delicate hairs of their calves were singed, and yet a 
newspaper thrown into the path taken by one of the pro- 
cession after he had walked over the stones was withered 
into ashes. A handkerchief laid on the shoulder of one 
of the walkers was scorched through. The thermometer at 
six feet above the stones registered 282 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Commenting on this, O'Brien says: "I was with 
Meshack, Shadrach and Abednego, in imagination, in 
their glorious trial in Nebuchadnezzar's barbaric court." 

At another place in the South Seas O'Brien saw four 
cultured Englishmen follow the natives over the stones 
and flames, and all were unharmed except one of the En- 
glishmen, who disobeyed instructions and looked back. He 
was badly burned and was an invalid for a long time. One 
of the Englishmen said the sensations were like light 
electric shocks. 



A PLAYFUL SPIRIT 

United States Senator New tells how James Whit- 
comb RlLEY, AFTER DEATH, LOCKED OUT 
THE UNDERTAKER. 



Although not avowing his belief in Spiritualism, 
United States Senator Harry New, of Indiana, in a recent 
article in Henry Ford's weekly magazine, the Dearborn 
Independent, tells how James Whitcomb Riley, the 
' ' Hoosier poet, ' ' believed in life after death and how, after 
his own death, he returned to play a prank on the under- 
taker, whose occupation Riley always dreaded. 

The Senator said : ' ' This ghost story unfolded itself in 
broad daylight and none of the persons who participated in 
it can explain it without attributing certain accomplish- 
ments to the supernatural." 

Before proceeding to the real story, the Senator told 
how Riley had awakened from a sound sleep and, without 
any preparation, immediately wrote one of his most 
famous poems, saying, "It came to me and woke me up." 

Despite his belief in immortality Riley disliked the 
idea of his own death and particularly detested undertak- 
ers, the Senator said. 

" Riley died at his home, on Bast Lockerbie Street, 
Indianapolis, Indiana. His death came in the afternoon 
and it was still early when the undertaker, that individual 
most repellent to Riley in his lifetime, arrived to perform 
the preliminary services of those of his kind. The room 
in which the dead man lay was on the second floor and 
was a modest apartment with but a single door and a win- 
dow opposite, which looked out on a narrow side yard. In 
that room what was left of the sensitive poet was alone with 
the creature he despised, and if the soul of the dead lingers 

188 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 189 

near the mortal clay, it may be conceived that Riley 's spirit 
had a bad half hour with the follower of the grim reaper. 
But that half hour passed and the servitor of the departed 
soft-footedly went his way, silently closing the door behind 
him. 

"This was but part of the work of the undertaker. He 
was to return some hours later to finish his task. He re- 
turned as the day was drawing to its close, and mournfully 
climbed the Riley stairs. He applied the cautious pressure 
of a silent hand to the Riley door knob which he had deftly 
turned but a few hours earlier. The knob refused to turn. 
The door declined to open. 

' ' Evidently, said the methodical worker, some member 
of the family has locked the death chamber. He summoned 
those in the house and asked for the key. He was told 
that the door had not been locked. No one had been in the 
second floor room since his former visit. 

"Nevertheless, he assured them, the door was locked. 
So the family bunches of keys were produced and the 
journey of the undertaker, this time not alone, wound again 
to the second floor. But there it halted at the poet's door. 
One after one the keys were tried in the lock. None would 
enter the keyhole. The door might not be unlocked. 

"A delicacy was felt in doing violence to the door of 
the dead. As there was no other entrance to the room 
except the window, the party went into the yard, procured 
a ladder and the undertaker climbed it and entered the 
room of the departed through the window. 

"When he had gained an entrance he investigated 
carefully and found that the door was locked from the 
inside and that the key had been left in the lock. 

1 ' Those who knew Riley best, his penchant for a prac- 
tical joke, his dislike for undertakers, his belief in the 
ministration of the spirits of the departed, are willing to 
admit that here was a prank quite characteristic and to 
be expected — the sort of thing that might be done by the 
ghost of him who was gone, if ghosts were a matter of fact. 

"The next day I was one of the pall-bearers at the 
last rites at Crown Hill cemeterv." 



WEIGHING AND MEASURING SPIRITS 



Scientists, by means of instruments, produce the sort 
OF EVIDENCE that materialists have 

ALWAYS DEMANDED. 



Two of its large pages are given by the New York 
American of August 28, 1921, to an account of the labora- 
tory established in New York City by the American 
Psychical Institute for the purpose of opening up unques- 
tionable communication with the departed. The laboratory 
work is under the direction of Dr. Hereward Carrington, 
the expert who began his career in psychic research as an 
expert employed to expose Spiritualism, but who, instead 
of scoffing, remained to pray, and has frequently given 
accounts of his actual, face to face, communication with 
the so-called dead. 

The laboratory contains over one hundred elaborate 
scientific instruments and has rooms for special experi- 
ments. 

One of the instruments is a mirror galvanometer for 
learning whether the spirit talking through the medium is 
a real spirit or only part of the medium's subconscious 
mind. Certain words are read to the medium when the 
latter is in a normal state, and the emotional reactions, 
such as quickened heart beats, are noted. Then, when the 
spirit speaks through the medium in a trance the emotional 
reactions are again noted and if the reactions are similar 
to those obtained from the medium when in a normal con- 
dition the investigators conclude they are dealing "with the 
medium's mind. If the reactions are different the investi- 
gators conclude that they are dealing with a spirit or with 

190 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LITE 191 

an absolutely water-tight compartment in the medium's 
subconscious mind. Hitherto it has been deemed impossible 
to establish the existence of such a compartment. 

Another instrument is a galvanometer for testing soul 
force from the body. Then there is a spirit dictaphone 
and sound amplifier, by means of which sounds, raps, and 
in fact noises of any sort will be received and recorded 
in the absence of the medium and all other persons. 

A psychic vibration detector lights a bell and thus 
points out the sitter whose energy is being drawn upon 
by a spirit. 

A volometer records the pressure of the will, for in- 
stance upon the end of a see-saw arrangement absolutely 
beyond the control of the operator, and this shows the 
presence in the operator of some outside spirit force. 

An oscillograph registers the vibrations of the body. 
The sthenometer shows the varying degrees of psychic 
force, or lack of psychic force, in the sitters, while the 
psychic ululometer or "howler," reveals the presence of 
any disembodied energy within its field by a loud noise. 

Spirit photographs will also be obtained, similar to 
those taken of Miss Goligher, a psychic at Glasgow, Scot- 
land, in whose presence a table was lifted while her hands 
were far away. A photograph showed a psychic arm ex- 
tending from her body and firmly gripping the under side 
of the table. This arm was felt by the photographers, and 
specimens of its substance were analyzed and found to be 
a cell-like growth. The substance from which the psychic 
arm was made evolved from nothing to a faint mist and 
then to the phosphorescent matter which was felt, seen, 
photographed and analyzed. Many experiments with this 
psychic arm were made and in its positive existence many 
of the spirit manifestations amazing Spiritualists and 
others were explained. 



192 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

The laboratory is located at No. 40 West Fifty-seventh 
Street, New York City, and it is to be hoped that "mate- 
rialists" and other skeptics concerning revelation of life 
after death will keep it in mind and, from time to time, 
ask for results. 



THE HUMAN AURA 



Positive peoop op invisible light surrounding the 
human body adduced by eminent english 

SCIENTIST. 



Although mediums have claimed for centuries that 
they saw light surrounding every human body the state- 
ment has always been scoffed at by scientists, until recently. 
Dr. Walter J. Kilner, late electrician of St. Thomas' Hos- 
pital, London, has brought the light, or aura, as it is called, 
down to physical terms and human comprehension. He 
had some difficulty in making the aura visible. He first 
thought that the forces were situated in the infra-red por- 
tion of the spectrum, but finally by means of a certain 
coal tar dye he got results. The details are described in 
his book, "The Human Aura." 

What is the explanation of the human aura? Dr. 
Kilner thinks that it is an ultra-violet phenomenon which 
normally is invisible to the human eye. He says the human 
body is normally a heat engine and a furnace, giving out a 
certain amount of heat. We know that heat changes the 
ambient atmosphere, as does every one who has looked 
across a hot stove plate, when ordinary air, invisible be- 
fore, becomes plainly visible by a sort of refraction effect, 
popularly called "boiling." Objects seen behind the plate 
suddenly seem to become distorted. 

That heat has something to do with the human aura 
seems to be borne out by the fact that no aura has ever 
been seen surrounding a corpse. The aura in all cases 
vanished within a few hours after the death of the subject. 

193 



194 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

But, a writer in Science and Invention thinks that 
the aura may be a chemical emanation, like the odor from 
a cake of soap. Whatever the explanation may be the 
mediums, all these many centuries, have been telling the 
truth about a strange light surrounding every human body. 
Practical uses of the aura have been suggested by Dr. 
Kilner who has diagnosed mysterious ailments by means 
of it. 

In spite of human bumptiousness, Almighty God is 
revealing strange and wonderful things for our benefit. 
Inanimate nature, unlike scoffing man, is reverent or recep- 
tive, and, obedient to Divine command, accepts new powers, 
and at the appointed time unfolds them to mankind. It 
is Whittier, I think, who says of Nature in one of his 
poems: 

"And all her signs and voices shame 
The prayerless heart of man." 

Let us cultivate this reverent, prayerful attitude of 
mind, and the Great Giver of all good will lift veil after 
veil, revealing wonders and blessings beyond human 
imagination. 

Since writing the above, weeks later in fact, Dr. Kil- 
ner 's book has come into my possession by a strange com- 
bination of circumstances, and I find him writing, in his 
introduction, as follows : 

"Hardly one person in ten thousand is aware that he 
or she is enveloped by a haze intimately connected with 
the body ***** which, although invisible under ordinary 
circumstances, can be seen when conditions are favorable. 
This mist, the prototype of the nimbus or halo constantly 
depicted around saints, has been manifest to certain in- 
dividuals possessing a specially gifted sight, who in con- 
sequence have received the title of ' Clairvoyants, ' and until 
recently to no one else. This cloud or atmosphere, gener- 
ally termed the AURA, is the subject of this treatise, in so 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 195 

far as it can be perceived by the employment of screens 
containing a peculiar chemical substance in solution. It 
may be stated at once that the writer does not make the 
slightest claim to clairvoyancy ; nor is he an occultist ; and 
he specially desires to impress upon his readers that his 
researches have been entirely physical, and can be repeated 
by any one who takes sufficient interest in the subject." 

Note that Dr. Kilner admits the reality of the halo 
depicted around saints, or persons of pure life, and also 
that clairvoyants, hitherto derided by many practitioners, 
have the power of seeing this aura, invisible to the eyes of 
others. Furthermore, note that he declares that this aura 
is physical substance, i. e., ether finer than that of which 
the body is composed. 

(I agree with Dr. Kilner that heat is partly the cause 
of the human aura, but while he speaks of the human aura 
only, all objects have this luminous envelope. The radi- 
ance or brightness of this envelope is determined by the 
health and vigor of the object from which it emanates. I 
have explained in the body of this book that all matter, any 
kind of matter, is an arrangement of the electrons in the 
atoms, and that the protons and electrons of the atom are 
eharges of positive and negative electricity. So, each elec- 
tron has its own aura, and collectively they have, of 
course, a larger aura. This aura is the magnetic effluvia 
emanating from, and surrounding, the object, and is due 
to the explosions of the electrons and protons, as I have 
explained. The aura may be seen by any one through 
the reflected light of a mirror. — Dr. W. G. Bailey.) 

In view of the above, we may expect further discov- 
eries along so-called Spiritualistic, but really material, 
lines of a finer sort than we now know. 



STRANGE FACTS ABOUT THE SENSES 



Dogs and insects have powers beyond our comprehen- 
sion, POWERS THAT SUGGEST GREATER 
WONDERS TO BE REVEALED. 



In the main body of this book I pointed out that there 
are many sounds and sights beyond our human powers 
to detect, and now I want to go further and show that the 
dog, many insects, and other members of the animal family 
have powers even superior to those given us. 

Take the dog : Has the reader ever considered what a 
wonderful faculty the dog 's sense of smell is? A dog has 
rather poor eyesight, but this is more than made up for by 
his ability to identify any man, or even an inanimate ob- 
ject, by its odor. An unusually intelligent dog can tell 
whether the man is friendly or antagonistic to his master 
or his mistress, and almost any dog can identify an article 
belonging to his master, solely by smelling it. The blood- 
hound's ability to trace a missing person for many miles is 
the dog's sense of smell at its greatest development. Dogs 
have found their way back across the continent although 
they had been shipped to the distant point in a box or 
kennel, and here their ability to find their way back tran- 
scends all we know about their sense of smell and even their 
sense of direction. How could they use either of these 
senses, smell or direction, when they were locked in a bos 
of some sort and hurried across the country in freight cars, 
never being allowed to touch the earth in their travels? 
This question raises the thought: Have dogs a sixth sense, 
some sense that we know absolutely nothing about? An- 
other question: What is it that gives the dog knowledge 

196 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LITE 197 

of coming death and causes it to howl? These are legiti- 
mate questions and if we are honest we will admit that 
we cannot answer them and, moreover, that they should 
make us realize our littleness, yes, human littleness, in the 
face of the Great Creative Power that made my dog and 
made you and me. 

Many insects, like the butterfly and the house fly, 
are guided by their sense of smell. Experiments have 
shown that earth and sand, on which a female fly had 
rested attracted male flies. Science has been unable to 
detect these odors, although they attract males for a radius 
of a half-mile, and so the conclusion has been reached that 
the odors are not the tiny particles of a substance, but a 
wave motion of certain lengths and similar in character 
to those sent out by light and heat. 

A species of beetle can locate a desired fungus, appar- 
ently odorless, under ground, and then bore a tunnel direct 
to it and feed upon it. The grave-digger beetle can detect 
a dead animal at a long distance and will fly unerringly 
to it. 

Some other queer facts : The green grasshopper utters 
his ' ' Shrip ! shrip ! " by rubbing the base of his left wing- 
cover over the base of the right wingcover. Other grass- 
hoppers make their call by rubbing their hind legs over 
the wingcovers. The harvest fly has a swelling membrane 
on his abdomen and by means of an air-hole in this mem- 
brane he gets the effect of a whistle. 

Green grasshoppers and crickets have their ears on 
their front legs, while the locusts have their ears on the 
side of the abdomen. 

Facts like the above should make us modest about pro- 
claiming that we know all that can be known of the visible 
universe. Let us remember what the Psalmist said : "What 
is man that Thou art mindful of him?" 



AN UNQUESTIONABLE WITNESS 

Sir William Crookes, famous scientist, tells of his 
personal experiences with the material- 
IZATION of Katie King. 



"Having taken a very prominent part of late at Miss 
Cook's seances, and having been very successful in taking 
numerous photographs of Katie King by the aid of the 
electric light, I have thought that the publication of a few 
of the details would be of interest to the readers of the 
Spiritualist. 

"During the week before Katie took her departure she 
gave seances at my house almost nightly, to enable me to 
photograph her by artificial light. Five complete sets of 
photographic apparatus were accordingly fitted up for 
the purpose, consisting of five cameras, one of the whole- 
plate size, one half -plate, one quarter-plate, and two binoc- 
ular stereoscopic cameras, which were all brought to bear 
upon Katie at the same time on each occasion on which she 
stood for her portrait. Five sensitizing and fixing baths 
were used, and plenty of plates were cleaned ready for use 
in advance, so that there might be no hitch or delay during 
the photographing operations, which were performed by 
myself, aided by one assistant. 

' ' My library was used as a dark cabinet. It has folding 
doors opening into the laboratory ; one of these doors was 
taken off its hinges, and a curtain suspended in its place 
to enable Katie to pass in and out easily. Those of our 
friends who were present were seated in the laboratory 
facing the curtain, and the cameras were placed a little 
behind them, ready to photograph Katie when she came 
outside, and to photograph anything also inside the cabi- 
net, whenever the curtain was withdrawn for the purpose. 
Each evening there were three or four exposures of plates 
in the five cameras, giving at least fifteen separate pictures 
at each seance ; some of these were spoilt in the developing, 

198 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 199 

and some in regulating the amount of light. Altogether 
I have forty-four negatives, some inferior, some indifferent, 
and some excellent. 

"Katie instructed all the sitters but myself to keep 
their seats and to keep conditions, but for some time past 
she has given me permission to do what I liked — to touch 
her, and to enter and leave the cabinet almost whenever 
I pleased. I have frequently followed her into the cabinet, 
and have sometimes seen her and her medium together, but 
most generally I have found nobody but the entranced 
medium lying on the floor, Katie and her white robes hav- 
ing instantaneously disappeared. 

"During the last sis months Miss Cook has been a 
frequent visitor at my house, remaining sometimes a week 
at a time. She brings nothing with her but a little hand- 
bag, not locked; during the day she is constantly in the 
presence of Mrs. Crookes, myself, or some other member 
of my family, and, not sleeping by herself, there is abso- 
lutely no opportunity for any preparation even of a less 
elaborate character than would be required for enacting 
Katie King. I prepare and arrange my library myself as the 
dark cabinet, and usually, after Miss Cook has been dining 
and conversing with us, and scarcely out of our sight for 
a minute, she walks direct into the cabinet, and I, at her 
request, lock its second door, and keep possession of the 
key all through the seance ; the gas is then turned out, and 
Miss Cook is left in darkness. 

"On entering the cabinet Miss Cook lies down upon 
the floor, with her head on a pillow, and is soon entranced. 
During the photographic seance, Katie muffled her me- 
dium's head up in a shawl to prevent the light falling upon 
her face. I frequently drew the curtain on one side when 
Katie was standing near, and it was a common thing for 
the seven or eight of us in the laboratory to see Miss Cook 
and Katie at the same time, under the full blaze of the 
electric light. We did not on these occasions actually see 
the face of the medium because of the shawl, but we saw 
her hands and feet; we saw her move uneasily under the 
influence of the intense light, and we heard her moan occa- 
sionally. I have one photograph of the two together, but 
Katie is seated in front of Miss Cook's head. 



200 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

1 ' During the time I have taken an active part in these 
seances Katie's confidence in me gradually grew, until she 
refused to give a seance unless I took charge of the ar- 
rangements. She said she always wanted me to keep close 
to her, and near the cabinet, and I found that after this 
confidence was established, and she was satisfied I would 
not break any promise I might make to her, the phenomena 
increased greatly in power, and tests were freely given 
that would have been unobtainable had I approached the 
subject in another manner. She often consulted me about 
persons present at the seances, and where they should be 
placed, for of late she had become nervous, in consequence 
of certain ill-advised suggestions that force should be em- 
ployed as an adjunct to more scientific modes of research. 

"One of the most interesting of the pictures is one in 
which I am standing by the side of Katie ; she has her bare 
feet upon a particular part of the floor. Afterwards I 
dressed Miss Cook like Katie, placed her and myself in 
exactly the same position, and we were photographed by 
the same cameras, placed exactly as in the other experi- 
ment, and illuminated by the same light. "When these two 
pictures are placed over each other, the two photographs 
of myself coincide exactly as regards stature, etc., but 
Katie is half a head taller than Miss Cook, and looks a 
big woman in comparison with her. In the breadth of her 
face, in many of the pictures, she differs essentially in size 
from her medium, and the photographs show several other 
points of difference. 

"But photography is as inadequate to depict the per- 
fect beauty of Katie's face, as words are powerless to de- 
scribe her charm of manner. Photography may, indeed, 
give a map of her countenance ; but how can it reproduce 
the brilliant purity of her complexion, or the ever-varying 
expression of her most mobile features, now overshadowed 
with sadness when relating some of the bitter experiences 
of her past life, now smiling with all the innocence of 
happy girlhood when she had collected my children round 
her, and was amusing them by recounting anecdotes of her 
adventures in India? 



NO, NOT DEAD; TREY LIVE 201 

"Bound her she made an atmosphere of life; 

The very air seemed lighter from her eyes, 
They were so soft and beautiful, and rife 

With all we can imagine of the skies ; 
Her overpowering presence made you feel 

It would not be idolatry to kneel." 

"Having seen so much of Katie lately, when she has 
been illuminated by the electric light, I am enabled to 
add to the points of difference between her and her medium 
which I mentioned in a former article. I have the most 
absolute certainty that Miss Cook and Katie are two sep- 
arate individuals so far as their bodies are concerned. Sev- 
eral little marks on Miss Cook 's face are absent on Katie 's. 
Miss Cook's hair is so dark a brown as almost to appear 
black ; a lock of Katie 's which is now before me, and which 
She allowed me to cut from her luxuriant tresses, having 
first traced it up to the scalp and satisfied myself that it 
actually grew there, is a rich golden auburn. 

' ' On one evening I timed Katie 's pulse. It beat steadily 
at 75, whilst Miss Cook's pulse a little time after, was 
going at its usual rate of 90. On applying my ear to 
Katie's chest I could hear a heart beating rythmically in- 
side, and pulsating even more steadily than did Miss Cook's 
heart when she allowed me to try a similar experiment 
after the seance. Tested in the same way Katie's lungs 
were found to be sounder than her medium's, for at the 
time I tried my experiment Miss Cook was under medical 
treatment for a severe cough. 

"Your readers may be interested in having Mrs. Ross 
Church's, and your own accounts of the last appearance 
of Katie, supplemented by my own narrative, as far as I 
can publish it. When the time came for Katie to take her 
farewell I asked that she would let me see the last of her. 
Accordingly when she had called each of the company 
up to her and had spoken to them a few words in private, 
she gave some general directions for the future guidance 
and protection of Miss Cook. From these, which were 
taken down in shorthand, I quote the following: 'Mr. 
Crookes has done very well throughout, and I leave Florrie 
with the greatest confidence in his hands, feeling perfectly 



202 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

sure he will not abuse the trust I place in him. He can 
act in any emergency better than I can myself, for he has 
more strength.' Having concluded her directions, Katie 
invited me into the cabinet with her, and allowed me to 
remain there to the end. 

"After closing the curtain she conversed with me for 
some time, and then walked across the room to where Miss 
Cook was lying senseless on the floor. Stooping over her, 
Katie touched her, and said, 'Wake up, Florrie, wake up! 
I must leave you now.' Miss Cook then woke and tear- 
fully entreated Katie to stay a little time longer. 'My 
dear, I can't; my work is done. God bless you,' Katie 
replied, and then continued speaking to Miss Cook. For 
several minutes the two were conversing with each other, 
till at last Miss Cook's tears prevented her speaking. Fol- 
lowing Katie 's instructions I then came forward to support 
Miss Cook, who was falling on to the floor, sobbing hysteri- 
cally. I looked round, but the white-robed Katie had gone. 
As soon as Miss Cook was sufficiently calmed, a light was 
procured and I led her out of the cabinet. 

"The almost daily seances with which Miss Cook has 
lately favored me have proved a severe tax upon her 
strength, and I wish to make the most public acknowl- 
edgment of the obligations I am under to her for her 
readiness to assist me in my experiments. Every test that 
I have proposed she has at once agreed to submit to with 
the utmost willingness ; she is open and straightforward in 
speech, and I have never seen anything approaching the 
slightest symptom of a wish to deceive. Indeed, I do not 
believe she could carry on a deception if she were to try, 
and if she did she would certainly be found out very 
quickly, for such a line of action is altogether foreign to 
her nature. And to imagine that an innocent school-girl 
of fifteen should be able to conceive and then successfully 
carry out for three years so gigantic an imposture as this, 
and in that time should submit to any test which might 
be imposed upon her, should bear the strictest scrutiny, 
should be willing to be searched at any time, either before 
or after a seance, and should meet with even better success 
in my own house than at that of her parents, knowing 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 203 

that she visited me with the express object of submitting 
to strict scientific tests — to imagine, I say, the Katie King 
of the three years to be the result of imposture does more 
violence to one's reason and common sense than to believe 
her to be what she herself affirms. 

' ' It would not be right for me to conclude this article 
without also thanking Mr. and Mrs. Cook for the great 
facilities they have given me to carry on these observa- 
tions and experiments. 

"My thanks and those of all Spiritualists are also due 
to Mr. Charles Blackburn for the generous manner in 
which he has made it possible for Miss Cook to devote her 
whole time to the development of these manifestations and 
latterly to their scientific examination." 



LOMBROSO, SCIENTIST, TESTIFIES 



Tells op his brave determination to champion Spirit- 
ualism, AND RELATES SOME OP HIS EXPERIENCES. 



"When at the close of a career — richer in fierce lo- 
gomachy and struggle than in victory — in which I figured 
as a champion of the new trend of human thought in 
psychatry and criminal anthropology, I began investiga- 
tions into the phenomena of spiritism and afterwards de- 
termined to publish a book on the subject, my nearest 
friends rose against me on every side, crying, 'You will 
ruin an honorable reputation, a career in which, after 
so many contests, you had finally reached the goal; and 
all for a theory which the whole world i> only repudi- 
ates, but, worse still, thinks to be ridiculous.' 

"But, all this talk did not make me hesitate for a 
single moment. I thought it my predestined end and way 
and my duty to crown a life passed in the struggle for 
great ideas by entering the lists for this desperate cause, 
the most hotly contested and perhaps most persistently 
mocked at idea of the times. It seemed to me a duty that, 
up to the very last of the few days now remaining to me, 
I should unflinchingly stand my ground in the very thick 
of the fight, where rise the most menacing obstructions 
and where throng the most infuriated foes. 

"And one cannot in conscience blame these oppo- 
nents, because spiritistic phenomena, as commonly con- 
ceived, seem designed to break down that grand idea of 
monism which is one of the most precious fruits of our 
culture, retrieved by so sore a conflict from the clutches 
of superstition and prejudice. Furthermore, when con- 
trasted with the precision of experimental phenomena — 
always accurately tallying with each other in time and 
space — spiritistic observations and experiments, so fre- 
quently varying with different mediums, according to the 
time of day and according to the mental state of the par- 

204 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 205 

ticipants in the seance, notwithstanding their frequent 
repetition and reinforcement by accurate mechanical in- 
struments, and however carefully sifted out by the most 
severely scientific experimenters (one need only name such 
men as Crookes, Richet, Lodge, James, Hyslop) are always 
wrapped in a dim atmosphere of uncertainty and show a 
tinge of medieval science. But note this well, that, how- 
ever doubtful each separate case may appear, in the en- 
semble they form such a compact web of proof as wholly 
to baffle the scalpel of doubt. 

"In psychical matters we are very far from having 
attained scientific certainty. But the spiritistic hypoth- 
esis seems to me like a continent incompletely submerged 
by the ocean, in which are visible in the distance broad 
islands raised above the general level, and which only 
in the vision of the scientist are seen to coalesce in one 
immense and compact body of land, while the shallow mob 
laughs at the seemingly audacious hypothesis of the 
geographer. ' ' 

Cesaee Lombroso, 

in his book, "After Death— What?" 
Turin, October, 1908. 

(Notice the date of this statement by Lombroso. 
Within the thirteen years since many scientific men have 
investigated spiritistic phenomena and expressed belief 
in them. Some of the phenomena have been weighed, pho- 
tographed and analyzed by scientific men. See the appen- 
dix to this book.) 

Professor Lombroso tells of many strange things seen 
by him. He tells of Eusapia Palladino, the medium, run- 
ning the finger of an investigator over the top sheet of a 
tablet of paper, as if she were writing, and the finding 
of writing on a sheet of paper in the middle of the tablet, 
which had to be split open. He also tells how Eusapia, 
almost illiterate, read a letter in the pocket of a young 
man while her hands and arms were held by the investi- 
gators, and how she made impromptu and beautiful 
sculptures. 



206 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

He quotes Dr. Lapponi, a Eoman Catholic and physi- 
cian to the popes, as hearing a seven-year-old boy, Alfred 
Pansini, speaking like an orator in several foreign lan- 
guages, and later, at the age of ten, being transported 
with his brother, Paul, on several occasions for long dis- 
tances. 

Professor Lombroso is so detailed in his statements, 
so exact, that doubt is impossible, and yet some half-baked 
scientists have the audacity to ridicule him in this matter 
while they accept his other findings and opinions. 



THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND 

It mat be systematically educated, by means of a 

phonographic device, whdle the person 

is asleep. 

Many of the ideas I have advanced elsewhere, in the 
body of this book, have been verified and amplified by 
subsequent publications in magazines and books. There 
have been, and are, so many of these occurrences that 
they have ceased to surprise me. I have advanced an 
idea and weeks later some new book or magazine, just 
off the press, has come to my hand, and I found to my 
amazement that some other writer has been at work on 
the same thought and has adduced positive proof of the 
truth of my theory. I do not pretend to account for these 
occurrences further than to say that other minds are 
working on the great and NEW phenomena of Spiritual- 
ism, I say, advisedly, NEW phenomena, for any fair- 
minded student of current events will admit that we are 
getting, somehow, many new and amazing, and unexplain- 
able ideas on the subject of immortality and its allied 
subjects. 

Here, in Science and Invention, of New York, for 
December, 1921, I find an article by the editor, H. Gerns- 
back, on the subject, "Learn and Work While You 
Sleep," and I quote freely from the article by special 
permission of the publishers of the magazine. 

I ask my readers to take the article seriously, even 
though it seems very fanciful. Read it, and study it, and 
the idea will grow on you. You may, probably will, con- 
clude that Mr. Gernsback is only a few years ahead of 

207 



208 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

his time, and that his device will be an actuality, and will 
banish ignorance, and all the evils trailing after it, like 
a bad dream. Let us all, at least, refrain from saying 
"Impossible" about any idea advanced by a rational man. 

"During our sleeping periods all our usual functions 
are suspended ; of our five senses none remain conscious. 
We hear no longer ; we feel no longer ; we see no longer ; 
we smell no longer; we taste no longer. This statement 
may be qualified at once, by saying that all of the five 
senses have ceased operating only if conditions are right, 
or rather normal. To elucidate, a man may be sleeping 
soundly near a busy railroad, where trains crash along 
every few minutes, and he will not wake up. He has 
become accustomed to the disturbance. But let a rat or 
mouse start nibbling in a corner of his room, and he will 
wake up almost immediately. Why is this so? The reason 
is that the human body while asleep, is only dead to the 
accustomed things, and the instant something unusual 
occurs, the sentinels of the particular sense affected imme- 
diately send out its warning. 

"Thus, while we do not hear the ponderous trains 
crashing by, the unaccustomed noise of the nibbling mouse 
awakens us, because it was not foreseen by the sleeper. 
Our subconscious self never sleeps. It is always on the 
alert. All of the other senses act in the same way, as just 
exemplified with the sense of hearing. 

"Thus we sleep along peacefully, but an acrid odor, 
which is not foreseen, will awaken us. We may turn 
around and toss about in bed and have every part of our 
body come in contact with the linen of the bed. It will 
not awaken us, but a single drop of cold water falling on 
our hand, will instantly rouse us. Why ? Because it was 
not expected by the sleeper. The same is the case with 
taste. A man may be snoring along peacefully with his 
mouth wide open, but if you allow a few drops of sugar- 
water, or any other unusual solution to fall upon his 

tongue, he will awaken in nearly every case. 
***** 

''Suppose we could find a way in which we could act 
upon our sleeping senses in the night time ! We would 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 209 

immediately have lifted up the entire human race to a 
truly unimaginable extent. 

"Suppose it was possible for you to read, learn, or 
work while you sleep. Would we not thereby extend the 
period of our lives by one third? 

"Suppose it was possible to devise an apparatus 
whereby you could read a book, or study a language while 
you slept. "Would it not be an inestimable boon to hu- 
manity? "We may be sure that in years to come, we will 
have arrived at just such a point. There is nothing im- 
possible in science, and our problem is greatly simplified 
by the fact that when the body is at rest, it is most easily 
influenced, and impressions are retained best. 

"Suppose we were to build a phonographic machine, 
the sound of which could be conveyed to the ear by two 
rubber tubes. What would happen ? At the first attempt 
the sleeper probably would wake up startled because he 
was not accustomed to it. It probably would take a week 
before he could accustom himself to wear a head-gear 
attached to his head by means of a heavy rubber band, 
and before he could submit to the annoyance of it as well. 

"After he became accustomed to the head-gear as 
well as to the unfamiliar noises, it is very probable that 
his subconscious self would take note of what was going 
on while he slept. Thus, were it music, or the spoken 
voice, it seems almost certain that in time, a lasting im- 
pression would be made upon the brain through the audi- 
tory nerves. 

# * # * * 

"The machine which we depict upon our cover con- 
tains a number of reels, each of which has enough wire 
to last for about one hour continuous service. Each reel 
comes into position automatically as soon as it is 'played'; 
thus eight reels will give the sleeper enough material for 
a whole night's work. 

"Whether he wishes to be entertained, or whether he 
wishes to learn, depends upon himself. It probably 
would not do to learn history for eight hours at a stretch, 
for the mind probably would not absorb it all. So we 
might switch from history to romance, then we might 



210 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

have a concert for an hour to get accustomed to the music 
of the latest opera, then switch back to mathematics if 
necessary, and arrange the program as we may see fit, 
and so as to suit our own individual taste." 

How the sub-conscious mind must be recognized, and 
may be practically used by photplay writers, is succinctly 
stated by Harvey O'Higgins, the world-famous author, 
in The Photodramatist, a magazine published at Los An- 
geles, Cal. I make the following extracts from the ar- 
ticle : ' 

"The subconscious mind is the mind that dreams 
while you sleep. It is the mind in which your animal in- 
stincts move. It is the primitive mind out of which con- 
scious intelligence has developed. It is the mind of the 
instinctive emotions. And it is the mind to which every 
successful story and play and movie has to go to get the 
emotional pull that 'puts it over.' It is the artistic mind, 
as distinguished from the scientific mind. It is the low- 
brow mind, not the highbrow. It is what we call 'the 
heart,' as contrasted with 'the head.' 

"The subconscious mind thinks in pictures always, 
just as your dreams are always pictures. What the high- 
brow calls the 'symbols' that explode your instinctive 
emotions — these symbols, too, are pictures, images, for 
the most part. The audience, watching a moving-picture, 
is absorbed in a sort of waking dream; and your hero 
and your heroine and your heavy and your comedian are 
all symbols that release instinctive emotions automati- 
cally. If you cross the currents of those emotions in lay- 
ing out your plot, you will 'lose' your audience. 

"Watch them. They will begin to cough, and shuffle, 
and scrape their feet. If you continue to frustrate their 
instinctive desire, they will sit cold and dejected. If you 
keep it up to your conclusion, no matter how brilliantly 
written and intelligently directed your picture is, the 
popular verdict will be 'rotten,' and not all of the praise 
of the intelligent critics of the theatre will save your film 
from the can on the shelf." 



ENGLISH FINANCIAL AUTHOKITY SPEAKS 



Tells of the startling revelations of immortality 
that he has experienced for many years. 



Ellis Thomas Powell, one of London's leading finan- 
cial authorities, tells, in recent issues of the Philadelphia 
Public Ledger, how he was ridiculed by a friend for his 
interest in psychic research and how he proved his com- 
plete sanity and responsibility to the skeptical friend. 

The friend, when asked, "What would you accept as 
proof of the possession of a robust and capable mind?" 
replied to Dr. Powell, "Take a London University de- 
gree. They are a terrific test, as everybody knows." 

Accepting the challenge, Dr. Thomas, aside from his 
work as editor of the London Financial News, immediately 
studied for, and promptly obtained, two degrees, with 
second-class honors. He was the only man that year to 
take two degrees. 

Having apparently satisfied the skeptical friend, Dr. 
Powell proceeded with his researches in psychic research, 
and of these he says: 

"Scores and hundreds of the denizens of the next 
plane are known to me, and with many of them I am on 
terms of familiar acquaintance, meeting them and con- 
versing with them again and again in the course of my 
investigation. I have witnessed the materialization of 
spirit forms hundreds of times in circumstances where 
fraud was entirely out of the question. In fact, over and 
over again my fellow investigators and I have subjected 
the medium to the most elaborate tests and the most cru- 
cial precautions of which the medium himself was un- 
aware. I have sat with all the best mediums, chiefly in the 
unique psychic atmosphere of my own home, which has 
for eighteen years been the center for psychic study." 

211 



212 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

Speaking of supposed false messages from the spirit 
world, Dr. Thomas tells of many instances where investi- 
gation proved that the spirits were right and the recip- 
ients of the messages were wrong, as in cases of departed 
relatives whom the recipients had never met. This is in 
line with the case I have related elsewhere, in whieh a 
judge laughingly denied the existence of a sister he had 
never known. He learned later from his mother that such 
a sister died in infancy, and still later the message from 
this sister was verified to the letter. 

Dr. Powell tells of a materialized spirit that resented 
the jeering of a skeptic in a circle of sitters by suddenly 
approaching and pushing the critic out of his chair. In 
another sitting spirit hands lifted a glass of water to 
refresh the young lady at the organ, but the young lady, 
seeing only the glass approaching her, screamed and 
fainted. 

Describing the conditions necessary for a successful 
seance, Dr. Powell says: 

"For the moment they sit quietly, join hands and 
sing softly so as to set up the right vibrations. Some fa- 
miliar hymn is likely to be chosen. 'Lead, Kindly Light,' 
is a conspicuous favorite, perhaps because its author, the 
late Cardinal Newman, is among the most active of the 
propagandists of psychic research who work from the 
other side toward the earth. At the end of the hymn 
there will generally be a prayer. Where the spirits them- 
selves express a preference, they almost invariably select 
the petition for purity of heart which opens the holy com- 
munion service in the Church of England. These are all, 
according to the ignorant critic, the cunning tactics of 
devils. ' ' 

Describing the trance of the medium, Dr. Powell 
says: 

"It will then be necessary in a materialization circle 
to put the medium into a much deeper trance. The pro- 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 213 

cess will be accompanied by a series of gasps, sighs and 
ejaculations on the part of the medium. He will be made 
vigorously to rub himself with the palms of his hands, 
apparently for the purpose of inducing currents of the 
force which is to be used in the manifestations. 

"When the process is complete, and the medium as 
deeply entranced as the coming manifestations require, 
his spirit will be completely out of his body, save that a 
kind of etheric ligature, like a belt or cord, between spirit 
and body prevents complete disunion. This latter would 
involve the death of the medium. "What is essential is to 
have the medium profoundly entranced, as if he (or she) 
were under the influence of a powerful amesthetic." 

(I have described this "etheric ligature" in Chapter 
XX of the body of this book as follows : ' ' Our spirit body 
is connected with our earth body by a 'silvery-appearing 
thread, ' which seems to be a current of energy. We sleep, 
and part of the time we sleep, our spirit body is away 
from our earth body. When we awaken our spirit body 
has re-entered our earth body. At death this connection 
between the spiritual and the material is broken, and the 
moment it is broken decay of the material, or physical 
body begins, although it may not be noticeable at the 
time."— W. G. Bailey, M. D. 

Dr. Powell tells of photographing a woman who had 
been in the spirit world for one hundred and forty years, 
and describing the materialization he says : 

"The materialized 'flesh' is firm and life-like in ap- 
pearance, but is perfectly cold to the touch. So much I 
have learned from lady colleagues, including my wife, who 
has been privileged to kiss this radiant visitor from an- 
other plane of life. It is not flesh as we know it, although 
the resemblance is quite perfect. A really good material- 
ization looks like a piece of beautiful waxwork, animated 
by life, and capable of speech and motion." 

Some mediums, Dr. Powell says, never suspect their 
own powers until the spirits privately reveal themselves, 
as in the case of a young medium who suddenly saw "a 
man" standing in a doorway in his home, although the 



214 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

man was invisible to any other person in the room. This 
young man consulted Spiritualists in his city and was told 
how to develop his mediumistic powers. 

Why does the "control" want to get hold of a 
medium? Dr. Powell asks, and then he answers his own 
question in this way: 

"Well, he is either an experimentalist himself, on the 
other side, or possibly the instrument of such a re- 
searcher, or else he has voluntarily undertaken the man- 
agement of a medium for the purpose of carrying hope 
and consolation to bereaved hearts down below. 

•" 'Voluntarily,' did I say? Yes, that is true; but 
now and then there is undoubtedly an expiatory element 
in the work. Something done in the flesh has to be atoned 
for, and a period of work as a 'control' is the form the 
atonement takes. Several distinguished ecclesiastics of 
our day are working as ' controls, ' by way of expiation for 
opposing psychic research while they were in the flesh." 

How are the materialized forms built up ? The spirits 
say they extract from the body of the medium and of the 
sitters a filmy substance called ectoplasm. We all possess 
an etheric body, the kind of duplicate of the physical 
frame, which survives and lives in the spirit form when 
the flesh is dissipated into its original dust. Over this 
etheric body, say the operators in materialization, they 
spread, the ectoplasm. A rough analogy would be the 
application of plaster to a wall. The collection of the 
ectoplasm is a drain on the vital force of the medium 
and the sitters. 

"This ectoplasm first appears as a dimly luminous 
cloud over the medium. It issues from the left side of the 
abdomen and is replaced at the end of the sitting. The 
reverse process to materialization is dematerialization. In 
this latter case, the process always goes on, at least in my 
experience, from above downward, so that the material- 
ized figure becomes shorter and shorter in stature, until 
only the head is left, and this is on the ground. There it 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 215 

can speak, doubtless by some utilization of the lungs and 
vocal cords of the medium. Finally it vanishes, often to 
be followed almost immediately by the appearance of 
another full-grown figure." 

The question, Shall we know one another there? Dr. 
Powell answers in this way: 

"How is recognition assured on the other side when 
long years may pass between the 'death' of mother and 
son, for instance, so that the son has altered out of all 
cognizance by a mother? She passed away when he was 
thirty-five. Will she recognize the venerable figure of the 
man of eighty when at length he crosses the bar ? 

' ' As a rule, spirit recognition does not depend on sight. 
It depends on affinity of spirit vibrations. Yet if visual 
perception of the spiritual species be required to re- 
enforce the subtler influence, then, so we are told, the 
identification is aided by the projection of the image in 
such fashion as to be recognizable. And this is what occurs 
when the clairvoyance of the dying, as so frequently 
happens, is able to distinguish the figures of waiting 
spirits at the bedside." 

Some definite questions as to actual conditions in the 
spirit world are answered by the spirits, and Dr. Powell 
says of light, for instance: 

"The unseen intelligences declare that their world is 
not lighted by the sun, as ours is. On the contrary, the 
light waves which affect our retina are too coarse to touch 
their perceptive senses. What they enjoy is a kind of 
diffused, radiance, which, as they assert, casts no shadow 
and is as powerful behind an object as in front thereof. 
But when they speak of a diffused radiance they warn 
us against supposing that the expression is exact. It is 
the nearest approximation they can get for the description 
of something which is totally outside our earthly experi- 
ence. It is a radiance which seems to suffuse the inner 
senses, as distinct from affecting an outward organ like 
the eye. 

"How, then, is the so-called spirit photograph pro- 
duced? How can the spirit body, itself of extreme fine- 
ness, make itself perceptible to the photographic plate at 



216 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

all? The answer of the unseen intelligences is that (in 
some instances) they construct a kind of screen by means 
of some application of the ether, and upon it they men- 
tally project the image which they desire the plate to 
receive. ' ' 

Doctor Powell says, in conclusion of his remarkable 

articles : 

"I once begged a spirit friend to make some attempt 
to show how impassable the gulf of understanding really 
was. He gave a really beautiful example, which anybody 
can comprehend. 

" 'Take your own vision and its capacity for color. 
Your sense of color arises from excessively rapid vibra- 
tions in the ether striking on the delicate mechanism of 
the eye. The slowest vibrations you can sense are red. 
As they become faster you see orange, yellow, green, blue, 
indigo and violet. The violet rays are the fastest of all. 
In fact, they are the most rapid that your human eye can 
take in. Consequently your color capacity begins with 
red and ends with violet. But beyond the violet are many 
other lovely colors, of beauty quite indescribable to you, 
because you have no experience of them, and never can 
have as long as you depend for your color sense upon a 
physical eye. When you come over here you will see 
colors that will dazzle you, but I can't describe them any 
more than you could picture the glowing hues of a sunset 
to a man born blind. ' 

""What a light that explanation sheds on a good many 
of the world's mysteries!" 



INVESTIGATE, SAYS SCIENTIFIC PERIODICAL 



Popular Science Monthly says it is the business of 

science to investigate and not to 

condemn before investigation. 



In its issue for September, 1921, the Popular Science 
Monthly, of New York, has on its first page an article 
entitled "Weighing Ghosts and Photographing Phan- 
toms," and beginning as follows: 

"After twenty years of investigation, several eminent 
scientists of England, France and Germany claim to have 
made definite discoveries concerning the 'spirit' forces of 
the seance chamber. 

' ' By the use of the camera, of weights and scales, and 
of electrical apparatus, these investigators have tried to 
prove the existence of an unknown but material sub- 
stance which the seance medium puts forth from her body 
and with which she lifts tables or 'materializes' human 
faces that may certainly be likened to the 'ghosts' of 
superstition. 

"The Popular Science Monthly holds no brief for 
Spiritualism, but it does believe that it is the business of 
science to investigate and not to condemn before an inves- 
tigation. 

"It is the function of science to study these trance 
states, to interpret the phenomena of hysteria and to tell 
us why the normal woman ceases to be herself in a trance. 
All this is straightforward psychological investigation. 
Control of the most rigorous kind must be exercised. 

"Strict scientific control seems to have been main- 
tained in astonishing investigations made in Europe by 
the late Dr. W. J. Crawford, of Belfast, Ireland, and by 
Dr. A. von-Schrenck Notzing, of Munich, and by Dr. G. 
Geley, of Paris. A committee of the British Society for 
Psychical Research has checked up the records in some 
of the cases and has endorsed the results. 

217 



218 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

"In the experiments of von-Schrenck Notzing, Geley 
and Crawford there seems to be evidence that some mate- 
rial substance, called ' plasm, ' something that is highly sen- 
sitive to light, but that can be photographed and felt, 
although it is normally invisible, something that can 
assume the shape of a hand or a face or even a whole 
figure, something that can move an object, is thrust from 
the body of the medium. 

"Dr. Crawford, who was an engineer, tested the 
'plasm' mechanically. He even weighed it. Dr. von- 
Schrenck Notzing has photographed it. Although ordi- 
narily invisible, he also succeeded in collecting samples of 
it, which he studied microscopically, and which he found 
to be curiously like human skin in cellular structure. 
Both Dr. von-Schrenck Notzing and Dr. Crawford agreed 
that as it issued from the body they felt a 'kind of breeze 
caused by material particles of a cold, disagreeable, spore- 
like matter.' 

* * # # # 

"Here we have mediums who do not know one an- 
other, yet exhibit the same phenomena. From all of them 
some substance, which weighs, many pounds, emanates. 
The phenomena are observed in different places by differ- 
ent experimenters, who assure us they have taken every 
precaution to exclude possibility of fraud. These experi- 
ments need corroboration and interpretation." 



WE ARE PROGRESSING 



Thomas A. Edison says so, but adds that only two peb 

CENT OF US SEE A NEW TRUTH. 



Thomas A. Edison, not long ago, declared that only 
two per cent of his fellow-Americans could understand, 
and act upon, a new truth the first time it is presented 
to them. He was asked if human intellect had gained 
anything in power since the days of the Greek philoso- 
phers. 

''I think it has gained a good deal in power," he 
replied. "The Greek philosophers were pretty blind. 
A lm ost everything we have today was before their eyes, 
but they could not see much of anything. The lathe was 
looking at them. The turbine was staring them in the 
face. The internal combustion engine that is being so 
wonderfully developed today could have been produced 
almost as easily by the ancient Greeks as it was by us. 

"It is astounding how long things can remain right 
in front of us and not be observed, or at least not under- 
stood. Humboldt said it was a standing reflection upon 
science that it did not understand and therefore could 
not explain the passage of force between the two ends of a 
horseshoe magnet. It is just as much of a reflection upon 
us that we do not yet know how a bird sustains itself in 
the air without flapping its wings. 

"The fact that each generation produces two per 
cent who are able to understand a self-evident fact when 
plainly stated, seemed to indicate that there were laws in 
operation that inexorably produced the two per cent." 

Mr. Edison was asked if he did not consider that the 
two per cent were created by the fortuitous operation of 
natural laws and he said he did. He was then asked if he 
believed it might be possible to discover the laws that 

219 



220 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

create superior beings and consciously go about it to 
accelerate the speed at which humanity is intellectually 
improving. 

"The possibility already exists in theory," he replied. 
"And it will exist in fact as soon as we learn more about 
the laws that produce brain power. At present we know 
very little about these laws. It is all a matter of associa- 
tion. I mean by that, it is a matter of the association of 
the little fellows inside of us that contain whatever intel- 
lect we possess. 

''We are made of cells and some but not all of these 
cells manifest whatever intelligence we possess. Some 
parents happen to be united to each other and their prod- 
uct has exceptional brain power. It is just like two men 
going into partnership. If they happen to be just the 
right kind of men and also happen to be suited to each 
other, they make a wonderful success at business. A 
thousand other partnerships fail and nobody knows why 
one succeeded and the others did not." 



WHY ARE WE HERE ? 



Camden Daily Courier sees the decline of material- 
istic THOUGHT AND THE RISE OF REAL RELIGION. 



In the Camden Daily Courier, one of the best-known 
newspapers in New Jersey, the editor (who is sometimes 
apparently skeptical — as most newspaper men sometimes 
become) said: 

"Nature, says Cuentot, is such a perfect inventor that 
she keeps her inventions ahead of the requirements of life. 
Thus, when the reptile evolved into a bird, with feathers 
needed for flying, it was given feathers long before it 
soared into the air. Nature provides the tools so they 
will be ready when needed. 

"This leads scientist Cuentot toward the belief that 
there is an 'intention' back of all creation — something 
that is denied by the average scientist, who believes that 
life develops by chance, that its evolution is mechanical 
and aimless, unguided by a Supreme Intelligence. 

"This brings us to the question: Why are we here 
on earth ? Why do we live ? 

"As yet, there is no answer. But, the more science 
investigates, the more it is won over to the theological or 
spiritual belief that we and all other forms of life are 
here on earth for a definite purpose. That purpose is 
preparatory to something later, beyond the grave." 



221 



THIS LIFE A BLESSING 



Sir Oliver Lodge writes words op cheer for the 
despondent, and points out god's purpose. 



This human life as a blessing, and not a burden, and 
as merely one stage of an endless life, is the theme of a 
recent article of Sir Oliver Lodge, an article syndicated to 
Sunday newspapers. In the course of this article occur 
the following and inspiring thoughts : 

"The possibilities of existence are infinite. What 
they can be at moments we already dimly realize. We 
have all had instants of insight bordering on ecstacy. Why 
should these be so few and fragmentary? They show 
what is possible. The possible may be made actual. And 
when saints tell us of the mystery of Diety, and of the 
Beatific Vision, surely something of what is here suggested 
must be meant. Not something for which we have no 
imagination nor any trace of experience, but something 
to which we only attain at our very highest moments, and 
then only for a brief instant. Deity may, nay must, in- 
volve more than we can even conceive — human experience 
is sadly hampered by our animal ancestry and manifold 
shortcomings — but that it rises to the highest of our con- 
ceptions we may confidently expect; and as we rise in the 
scale of existence this it is which will become to us more 
and more real. 

"The value and worthiness of existence cannot be 
over-estimated. The very pains and sufferings of this 
present life are a witness to the grandeur of that for which 
it is a preparation. Those who arraign the Deity for 
allowing human suffering little realize what the future has 
in store. Many lofty souls must have already risen to the 
conception and to the experience; only they are beyond 
our ken. Existence is surely as large and magnificent now 
as it will ever be in the future; the universe is a going 
concern. Existence, yes, magnificent enough; but not our 

222 



NO, NOT DEAD; TEEY LIVE 223 

individual existence — not yet. The realities are all there ; 
it is we who must attain to them. "We can only do so by 
obeying the rules, by doing our bit, by biding our time. 
There is no short cut, there is no hurrying the eternal 
process. Our spirits must work out their appointed des- 
tiny ; and the period spent in a material body is a valuable 
and helpful contribution to the progress of the soul." 



PROOF AT HOME 



Practical directions for holdings sittings, and getting 
unquestionable spirit manifestations. 



Can any circle of sincere sitters get spirit manifesta- 
tions, without the presence of a known medium is a ques- 
tion put to me by many friends and others. I answer, 
Yes, if the circle will act in perfect sincerity, and give the 
same concentration to the sitting that they would to a 
game of progressive euchre. The truth spoken by Christ 
remains, unchanged and eternal: "Seek, and ye shall find. 
Knock, and the door shall be opened unto you." It is 
just as true today that wherever two or three are gath- 
ered together in His name He is in the midst of them. 
God is not a trifler, and let those who would learn of His 
provision for us over there refrain from trifling and skep- 
ticism. 

As to the mechanical requisites: A plain white pine 
table, preferably but not necessarily, unvarnished, about 
twenty -two to twenty-four inches square on top, and high 
enough for the sitters to rest the tips of their fingers, or 
palms of their hands, upon it comfortably when seated. 

Have one of the sitters act as spokesman, and have 
it understood that he alone is to answer when the spirits 
announce their presence by means of the usual raps, or 
when one of the circle appears to be passing into a trance. 

In a circle of eight to ten persons it is usual to find 
at least one develop into a medium when all the conditions 
are observed. 



224 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LITE 225 

Do not sit on any occasion for more than two hours, 
to avoid draining the vitality of the medium. Do not sit 
more than twice a week. 

Quiet, but essential conversation may be indulged in 
as a preliminary. Soft instrumental music, or singing in 
concert of some simple but earnest religious hymn, may 
be indulged in before the spirits make their presence 
known. 

The intelligent spirit communicating with the sitters 
must be reckoned with and respected. The spiritual 
atmosphere is all important. Like attracts like, and the 
best results come when the sitters are sincere in their 
mental attitude, as well as pure in heart personally. In 
a sitting we are not dealing with any haphazard thing, 
but with a psychic force which is partially known to us. 
The spirits cannot be commanded, but make themselves 
known when their conditions are fulfilled. As Tennyson 
so beautifully says, in one of his poems: 

"In vain shalt thou, or any, call the spirits from their golden day 
Unless, like them, thou too canst say 
My spirit is at peace with all." 

Tennyson knew something about spirit manifesta- 
tions, evidently, for his son, in a biography of his famous 
father, says the great poet wrote most of his poetry with- 
out preparation of any kind and apparently as if it were 
dictated to him. 

To get the right spirits we must entertain the right 
thoughts. The world from which disembodied spirits 
return is much like our world. Its residents are like us, 
in varying degrees of growth, and when the conditions 
are unfavorable in a sitting, when the sitters are trifling, 
or some of them evil-minded, evil spirits do the com- 
municating. If the sitters are in a low state of moral 
development their psychic force will be weak, or on a low 



226 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

plane, and the manifestations will come from similarly- 
minded spirits. I cannot impress this too much upon my 
readers. 

I have proved that there is a magnetic aura sur- 
rounding each one of us, and now I am telling you that 
this aura is affected in its density and purity by our 
spirits, whether we are gay or sad, angry or pleased, 
whether the weather is fair or cloudy, and whether our 
stomachs are overloaded or otherwise. So, never have a 
sitting when the weather is bad. A bright, sunshiny day, 
and dry, crisp air are preferable, and so is a high situation 
to a valley or lowland. Never sit when any of the circle 
is angry or over-anxious, or after a heavy meal. Another 

precaution to be inserted here: Have the sitters alternate, 
male and female. The male is known as the positive and 
the female as the negative. Hence they should sit alter- 
nately. Never cross hands or feet while in a circle. 

Darkness, or semi-darkness, is necessary. All life 
spends its embryonic period in darkness, and, moreover, 
luminous manifestations could not be seen by the sitters 
in broad daylight. A cabinet is useful because it helps the 
spirit forces to concentrate their magnetism or psychic 
force. Notice Christ's disciples proposing to build three 
"tabernacles" on the mountain. 

"What do I mean by magnetism or psychic foree? It 
is a molecular force, composed of molecules in too rapid 
vibration for our eyes to see. The human aura, or en- 
velope of magnetism around each of us, is visible to our 
naked eyes by reflection through a mirror. It is there and 
has been photographed. 

If all the ethers were not molecular there could be no 
transmission of sight, or sound, or odors, for there would 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LITE 227 

be no medium to carry them to the organs of sense, nor 
would there be any wireless telegraph or any talking 
machine. It is in what we do not see that we live, and 
move, and have our being. 

If our psychic force, or magnetism, did not fuse with 
the cosmic electric current there would be no telepathy, 
now an established fact, and telepathy, it should be re- 
membered, is possible between carnate and discarnate 
spirit, just as it is possible, and actually exists, between 
carnate and carnate and discarnate and discarnate. 

Persons in good health have better psychic force than 
persons in poor health So, sitters in poor health should 
be eliminated from the circle. A high degree of psychic 
force on the part of the sitters ensures better results. 

This magnetism, or psychic force, connects our five 
senses with the world of spirit. It is the medium whereby 
you select your life companion, your friends and your 
associates. You say of some persons that they seemed to 
bring to you "such congenial atmosphere," and some- 
times we meet persons who repel us at sight: Their 
psychic force was different from ours and hence we felt 
an instinctive dislike or fear of them. People must be 
attuned to each other or there will be friction, and where 
there is friction there is fire. 

Under the conditions I have laid down there will be 
results astounding and comforting, evidence of life here- 
after — of the life over there of our loved ones, evidence 
that they live, and love, and wait for us. Is not this evi- 
dence worth working for, worth inviting by using the 
proper conditions? 

Do not be discouraged if you fail to get results right 
away. Study your failures. Analyze the conditions and 
rectify them, and eventually you will know that they are 
not dead, but are right over there, and VISIBLE. 



QUALITIES FOR MEDIUMSHIP 



Sincerity, sympathy, unselfishness and love of truth 

CHARACTERIZE THE REAL MESSENGERS OF God's TRUTH. 



There are many varieties of mediumship. Some me- 
diums are selected for mere physical peculiarities which 
make them ready vehicles of spirit power. Their bodily 
organization is adapted for the purpose of manifesting 
external spiritual influence in its simplest form. They 
are used as the means of demonstrating spirit power, 
the external and invisible agency capable of producing 
objective phenomenal results. These we recognize as the 
instruments through whom the elementary phenomena are 
manifested, and these manifestations are the very foun- 
dation of our belief. 

Some mediums are chosen because of their loving and 
gentle nature. They are not the channels of physical 
phenomenal action ; in many cases not even of conscious 
communication with the spirit world ; but they are the 
recipients of spirit guidance, and their pure and gentle 
souls are cultivated and improved by angel superinten- 
dence. By degrees they are prepared to be the conscious 
recipients of communications from the spheres, or they are 
prepared with clairvoyant eye to catch stray glimpses of 
their future home. A loving spirit friend is attracted to 
them and they are taught and guided day by day. They 
are the loving souls that are surrounded by an atmos- 
phere of peace, purity and love. They live as bright 
examples in the world and often pass in the maturity of 
life to the spheres of rest and peace for which the earth 
life has fitted them. 

228 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 229 

Other mediums are intellectually trained and are 
prepared to give man extended knowledge and wider 
views of truth. Advanced spirits influence their thoughts, 
suggest ideas, and furnish means of acquiring knowledge 
and communicating it to mankind. 

The ways in which the spirits influence men are mani- 
fold. They have means that we know not of by which 
events are so arranged as to work out the end they have 
in view. The most difficult task, we are told, they have 
is to select a suitable medium through whom the message? 
of the higher and more advanced spirits can be made 
known. It is necessary that the mind of the medium 
chosen should be of a receptive character. Moreover, it 
must be free from foolish worldly prejudices. It must 
be a mind that has discarded its youthful errors and that 
has proved itself receptive of truth even though that truth 
has proved unpopular. It must also be free from dog- 
matism. It must not be rooted and grounded in earth 
motives. It must be free from dogmatism of theologies 
and sectarianisms and rigid creeds. It must not be 
bound by the fallacies of half -knowledge, which is ignor- 
ant of its own ignorance. It must be a free and inquiring 
mind. It must be a mind that loves progressive knowl- 
edge and that can see truth afar off. A mind that yearns 
for fuller light, for richer knowledge than it has yet 
received, a mind that does not think of ceasing its search 
for truth. 

This is the sort of character that is sought by the 
spirits as mediums or message-bearers of God's truth. 
Loving and earnest, self-denying and receptive of truth, 
with a single eye to God's work and with forgetfulness 
of earthly aims. Rare it is, rare as beautiful. Seek, 
friend, the mind of the philosopher, of the philanthropist, 
loving and tolerant, ready to help, quick to give needed 



230 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

aid. Add the self-abnegation of the servant of God who 
does his work and seeks no reward. For such a character 
there is work — work of a high, holy and noble character. 
Such persons are guarded and watched with jealous care 
by the spirits of the spheres. On such the angels of the 
Father smile, and attend and protect from injury. 



THE SMALLEST THING 



The grain of sand, the molecule, the atom and the 
electron dispute as to their relative smallness. 



A grain of sand lay on the floor, a tiny thing indeed; 
So very small a particle, the eye could scarcely heed. 
This mite of stone by vanity was carried quite away, 
And said, "I am the smallest thing existing here today." 

"Well, well," spoke up another voice from somewhere down below, 
' ' Your views I have to contradict, you do not seem to know 
That I am smaller still than you. I and my friends within 
That little heart of yours reside, so we the title win." 

The mite of sand was sorrowful, this woeful news to hear,, 

So greatly it affected him, he shed a stony tear. 

And then began the tiny grain, "I never heard of you; 

And furthermore I can't believe the things you say are true." 

' ' That 's easy ! ' ' said the stranger voice. ' ' You did not know of me, 

Because I am so very small my form no one can see. 

So now perhaps you'll understand just why I ought to rule. 

My name? Oh, yes, I most forgot, 'tis Bobby Molecule. ' ' 

The disappointed grain of sand had just begun to weep, 

When lo! another stranger voice came calling from the deep, 

And to the Molecule it said in tones of lofty scorn, 

' ' You are of great and ponderous size and from my kind are born. ' ' 

The Molecule, who up to now, had thought himself so small, 
Began to quake for fear that he would lose his place withal. 
' ' If you are smaller still, ' ' said he, ' ' then kindly give your name, 
For I will not give up my place just to advance your fame." 

' ' Then listen, ' ' said the tiny voice, ' ' and you will understand 
Just how we are the smallest things in Lilliputian Land. 
Alone we have no value, but 'tis our reunions form 
All combinations that exist, subject to nature's norm. 

' ' Upon a needle 's tiny point, you may believe or not, 

A hundred thousand of my kind could do the latest trot. 

They call me indivisible; the very smallest thing, 

They christened me the Atom and I'm going to rule as king." 

The Molecule was just about to render up the crown, 
When from Infinity there rose a whisper soft as down. 
' ' Your arguments have been in vain, ' ' it said in accents gay, 
"I claim the right to rule as king of all small things today. 

231 



232 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

' ' I am a million times at least a smaller thing than you, 
Your movements I control and guide, in everything you do. 
I am pure Electricity, I stand in mankind's grace. 
Primordial in Nature I pervade the cosmic space. 

' ' My name it is Electron, and I am the most minute 

Of anything that's known to man, and this you'll not dispute." 

The Atom quite reluctantly — hard smitten with his loss 

Knelt down and passed the longed-for crown unto his new-found boss. 

And as the tiny group of four went whirling on thru space, 
I wondered if some smaller thing would take Electron's place. 



THE WORLD'S SMALLEST THING 



From the Dearborn Independent: 

The smallest building block of the scientist of yester- 
day was the atom. The new discovery is that atoms are 
made up of yet smaller units called electrons. As far as 
even the scientific theory of today goes the electron is the 
smallest subdivision of matter. The electron is the pri- 
mary building block of which all substances are consti- 
tuted. There is no physical thing in all the world that 
isn't made by putting together various combinations of 
these electrons. The nature of primary elements of which 
the universe is made depends on nothing else but the 
arrangement of these electrons in the atom. The lead 
atom, for instance, has 82 electrons in it and the gold 
atom has 87, but the electrons are just alike. 

So small is an electron that the most powerful mi- 
croscope in the world could not see it. If one counted 
electrons through an active three-score years and 10 and 
bound them together he would not have enumerated 
enough of them to be visible to the naked eye. If one con- 
ceived a grain of sand, a smallish grain of sand about the 
size of the head of a pin, and if he should contrast that 
grain of sand in its physical dimensions with the whole 
world it would appear infinitely small. But as that grain 
of sand is to the world, so is the electron to the grain 
of sand. To the electron this grain of sand is a great 
world 25,000 miles around. 

So, these are pretty small things we are working 
with. Yet, infinitely small as electrons are, so marvelous 
are the devices of science that a way of counting them 
has been found. Take, for example, the electrons that go 
over a wire when a current is turned on. When one puts 
his foot on the button which starts the engine of his auto- 
mobile, for instance, he starts great flocks of these elec- 
trons to galloping past. If he turns on a single ampere 
of electricity he lets past in a second six million million 
million electrons. The average starter button, as a mat- 
ter of fact, releases 300 amperes of electricity. So, each 
second that your foot is on the button, you let go romping 

233 



234 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LITE 

by 1,800 million million million electrons, which is quite 
a crowd with the gate open so short a time. 

Mosely's theory has been worked over, re-demon- 
strated, proved, established, during these last eight years. 
Men of science are now awakening to the realization of 
the fact that there lies just ahead of them one great prob- 
lem, which, if it can be solved, will undoubtedly be the 
greatest accomplishment of that science since time began. 
Since elements are made up of electrons, and since the 
difference between them lies merely in the number of 
electrons which their atoms contain, it is obvious that the 
nature of elements is dependent on nothing but this 
arrangement of electrons. If science can change the 
arrangements of electrons, it can change one of these 
elements into another. For example : 

It is established that the atom of the element gold 
contains 87 electrons, 87 of these little structural building 
blocks. The substance closest akin to gold in the manner 
of its construction is mercury. The atom of mercury has 
in it 80 electrons. So it becomes obvious that the only 
difference between mercury and gold, so unlike in appear- 
ance and qualities, is that mercury has seven less building 
blocks than gold in its atom. If seven building blocks 
could be added the atom will then have 87 electrons in- 
stead of 80, and will be gold instead of mercury. Thus 
will the age long dream of the alchemist become possible 
and thus will the transmutation of matter be a reality. 

Little groups of advanced scientists are here and 
there working on this problem of taking apart the atoms 
of the different elements, of removing an electron here and 
there and thus changing the nature of those elements. 
When this riddle has been solved it will be possible to run 
the gamut down the scale and change one element into 
another. Thus will it become possible to make the maxi- 
mum use of those substances which exist in the matter, 
for the less useful may be changed into the more useful 
and the supplies of the more useful become virtually un- 
limited. Thus may lead be transmuted into gold and 
gold into platinum. Thus may the whole basis of values 
of rare and precious metals be removed and the world 
brought to the necessity of developing other yard-sticks. 



THIS WONDERFUL HUMAN FRAME 



The author's views supported by an unusual report 
from the American Chemical Society. 



Long after I had written my views on the wonderful 
and awe-inspiring mechanism of the human body, I found 
a report of a special committee of the American Chemical 
Society, from which I make the following startling 
excerpts : 

"Life is dependent in an unusual degree on the 
proper, fine adjustment of the time relations of a great 
many interdependent actions in the body: the rate of the 
heart-beat (the pulse), the rate of respiration, the rate of 
metabolism (the speed with which our food is consumed 
in the blood, tissues, etc.), the rate of digestion, the rate 
of elimination by the kidneys, skin, lungs, etc., are all of 
the same vital importance to the smooth working of the 
healthy body, as in any engine the rate of the flow of gas, 
the rate of combustion, the movements of pistons, valves, 
etc., are for the smooth and perfect working of the ma- 
chine. In fact, the wonderfully fine adjustment of these 
speed factors in our bodies to the needs of life and their 
marvelous capacity of self-regulation and readjustment 
under disturbed conditions form perhaps the most impres- 
sive element of life when viewed from the standpoint of 

its material transformations." 

****** 

"And here we have in the (to us) most precious 

machines, our bodies, at the very outset an action which 

no man, physician or chemist, has to this day completely 

elucidated — the mechanism of the action of pepsin and 

acid in digesting our food at the very first stages of its 

absorption in our systems." 

****** 

"To the barbarian these man-made machines are as 

wonderful and complex, because not understood, as are 

235 



236 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

indeed the marvelously fine and sensitive powers of ad- 
justment of the living organism to us, who still under- 
stand so little about them." 

****** 

"The whole history of the human race is indeed 
revealed to us in the most impressive fashion by the devel- 
opment of the embryo, starting with the fecundation of 
the minute human ovum, a single cell, and growing slowly 
by a rapid multiplication of cells to the fully developed 
infant as it appears at birth. Our bodies are, in fact, 
wonderfully organized communities of myriads of cells, 

the primal form of life." 

****** 

"Thus, we do not even know in exact terms of 
physics and chemistry what the factors are that distin- 
guish living from lifeless material: What are indeed the 
chemical and physical forces that lead to cell subdivision, 
the wonderful first step in life development? What are 
the forces that lead to perpetuation of life? To instinc- 
tive self -protection ? ' ' 

****** 

"We have in life a marvelously organized system for 
co-ordinated, highly complex physical and chemical reac- 
tions which are in a normal condition largely self -regulat- 
ing. With all the advances of exact science, it will prob- 
ably be beyond the power of man to duplicate life 's organi- 
zation, even in its simplest and lowest forms, for many, 
many generations to come. We still must adhere to the 
profound advice of Bacon: 'Nature is to be commanded 
only by obeying her.' " 



WHICH WAY LIES PEACE ? 



In love, the jot of heaven and the punishment of the 
wicked, says a prominent philosopher. 



"If our so-called science be true, human sin is but 
the result of natural disease, of heredity or of environ- 
ment. Individual responsibility is quite overlooked and 
we send for the surgeon or the doctor rather than for the 
priest. It is only fair to recall that a particularly wooden 
and unthinking persistence in earlier theological phrase- 
ology has quite unintentionally aided progress in the same 
direction — disrespect for the moral mandates. All this 
has come in face of the fact that science tells with most 
terrible certainty the tale of inexorable punishment for 

misused powers." 

****** 

"To Dante personality was something so fundamen- 
tal, so imperishable, so necessary to the understanding of 
life, that hell was nothing more nor less than its misuse 
and perversion ***** Dante possessed the insight that 
freedom comes only through obedience to the highest 
nature, that all other freedom leads to slavery." 

****** 

"Which way then lie the plains of peace? In put- 
ting oneself in absolute accord with God and the universe. 
Dante discovers life to be a harmony of love. Love is the 
joy of heaven, and on the steep circles of purgatory it is 
the voice of hope. But, it extends everywhere. The love 
which is the harmony and joy of heaven, and the hope of 
those who struggle toward it, is the anguish, the punish- 
ment, of the wicked and the evil who cannot escape it. If 
the universe is harmony, moving to love, where can he 
escape who lives in and cherishes hate? Though he take 
the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost part 
of the earth, or in the depths of the sea, or in the dark- 

237 



238 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

ness, or in hell itself, he cannot escape the presence of 
God. His punishment springs from the constant presence 
of that harmony which he hates. He writhes in the sense 
of futility and helplessness which arises out of his dishar- 
mony with that love which moves the heaven and all the 
stars." — From an essay on "Dante's Conception of Per- 
sonality," by Professor Ralph Tyler Flewelling, of the 
University of Southern California. 



TESTIMONY OF SCIENTIFIC MEN 



Drift of opinion in educated circles is towards belief 
in Spiritualism as a demonstrable fact. 



Sir William Osier, famous physician, in a lecture to 
his students, said: 

"On the question before us wide and far your hearts 
will range from those early days when matins and even- 
song, even-song and matins, sang the larger hope of human- 
ity into your young souls. In certain of you the changes and 
chances of the years ahead will reduce this to a vague 
sense of eternal continuity, with which, as Walter Pater 
says, none of us wholly part. In a very few it will be 
begotten again to the lively hope of the Teresians ; while a 
majority will retain the sabbatical interest of the Laodi- 
cean, as little able to appreciate the fervid enthusiasm of 
the one as the cold philosophy of the other. Some of you 
will wander through all phases, to come at last, I trust, to 
the opinion of Cicero, who had rather be mistaken with 
Plato than be in the right with those who deny altogether 
the life after death; and this is my own confessio fidei." 
****** 

Roger W. Babson, president of the Babson Statistical 
Organization, in his little book, "Religion and Business," 
says: 

"Many psychologists believe that there are mental 
and spiritual waves, just as truly as there are light and 
sound waves. These psychologists believe that when we 
think and concentrate we throw out thought waves, and 
these waves increase in intensity in accordance with our 
ability to concentrate. Many experiments have been tried 
in which a person who is able intensely to concentrate can 
enter a room and make another know just what the first 
is thinking about. This is popularly known as thought 
diffusion. ***** The spiritualists carry this idea much 

239 



240 NO, NOT BEAD; THEY LITE 

farther. They believe that it is not only possible for the 
living to communicate without words, but that it is possi- 
ble for the living and the dead so to communicate. 
Whether or not this is possible, space does not permit us 
here to discuss, but only an ignorant man would say such 
a thing is impossible. This whole question of spiritualism 
is closely woven with the future life and what takes place 
after death. The only reason for mentioning the matter 
here is that it involves the question of communion with 
God, commonly known as prayer." 

* ^ ^ * * * 

Akasoff says in his work on "Animism and Spirit- 
ism ' ' : 

"As soon as the personality, or the external con- 
sciousness, is asleep there arises something else that thinks 
and wills. This is not identical with the sleeper, and it 
manifests itself in characteristic ways. It is an individ- 
uality of which we are not cognizant, although it knows 
the sleeper and remembers his actions and thoughts. If 
we wish to admit the spiritistic theory, it is clear that this 
interior nucleus is the individual principle which survives 
the body ; and everything which belonged to its terrestial 
personality shall be but a matter of memory." 

Dr. E. Gyel, in his book, "L'Etre Subconscient, " 
says: 

"To summarize, it would appear that the subcon- 
scious self should be the real self, the permanent self ; 
whereas the conscious being should be but the apparent 
and transitory personality." 

Henri Bergson, member of the French Academy and 
professor in the College of France, says in his recent book, 
"Mind Energy": 

"But if the facts, studied without regard to any sys- 
tem, lead us, on the contrary, to regard the mental life as 
much more vast than the cerebral life, survival becomes so 
probable that the burden of proof comes to lie on him who 
denies it rather than on him who affirms it ; for the one and 
only reason we can have for believing in an extinction of 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 241 

consciousness after death is that we see the body become 
disorganized; and this reason has no longer any value, if 
the independence of almost the totality of consciousness in 
regard to the body is also a fact of experience. I regard 
the field open to psychical research as very vast, and even 

as unlimited." 

****** 

The rise of the Psychical Research movement marked 
by the founding of the English Society in 1882, under the 
presidentship of Professor Henry Sidgwick, probably the 
most judicial mind in the England of his day, called atten- 
tion to a vast mass of facts ignored by academic science 
which point to the existence of supernormal powers of 
certain peculiarly endowed persons called "psychics" or 
"sensitives." It was believed that science was failing in 
its duty to the world as long as these obscure phenomena 
were allowed to remain in the hands of ignorance, fraud 
or charlantry. Such men as Hon. W. E. Gladstone, Sir 
Oliver Lodge, F. W. H. Myers, John Ruskin, Professor 
Barrett, Professor James, Sir William Crookes, Gerald W. 
Balfour, Andrew Lang, and Bishop Boyd Carpenter took 
a great interest in the work, and some of them have made 
distinct contributions to psychological science. Owing 
mainly to the credulity and superstition of ordinary spirit- 
ualism, and to the fraudulent devices of many so-called 
' ' mediums, ' ' the movement in America lags far behind the 
English movement both in popular support and in the type 

of mind enlisted in its advocacy. — Rev. Samuel McComb. 

****** 

Or take the testimony of Dr. Felix Adler, the honored 
head of the Ethical Culture Movement, who certainly is not 
biased by any theological motive : " As for myself I admit 
that I do not so much desire immortality as that I do 
not see how I can escape it. If I as an individual am 
actually under obligation to achieve perfection, if the com- 
mand, 'Be ye therefore perfect,' is addressed, not only to 
the human race in general, but to every single member 
of it (and it is thus that I must interpret the moral im- 
perative) then on moral grounds I do not see how my 
being can stop short of the attainment marked out for it, 
of the goal set up for it." — Rev. Samuel McComb. 



242 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

1 ' What rational ground for a truly moral action could 
there be, if its fruition in an enhanced personality with 
all its further possibilities were at the mercy of an exter- 
nal and alien power such as death? Motives of prudence 
or utilitarian considerations would still be possible, but 
the prudential and the truly moral are poles asunder." — 
Rev. Samuel McComb. 

****** 

"We are living in two worlds at once — a planetary 
life in this material world, to which the organism is in- 
tended to react; and also a cosmic life in that spiritual 
world which is the native environment of the soul. From 
the unseen world, the energy of the organism needs to be 
perpetually replenished. Both in the achievements of 
sleep and the achievements of genius there is the same 
triumphant spontaneity, the same sense of drawing no 
longer upon the narrow and brief endurance of nerves 
and brain, but upon some unknown source exempt from 
those limitations." — Professor F. W. H. Myers, in "Human 
Personality. ' ' 

"Wonderful things come to us in sleep — none perhaps 
more wonderful than the revival of the colors of the faded 
soul. It is as if the wakeful angels had been busy all the 
night preening the draggled and ruffled wings of their 
sleeping brothers and sisters." — George Macdonald. 
****** 

"The time is not far off when the invisible will be 
seen, the intangible sensibly felt; when matter will rarefy 
to spirit and spirit solidify to matter; when they of the 
spiritual world will be able to visit us, and we in turn shall 
be able to make incursions into the world beyond. ' ' — Arch- 
deacon Colley, Rector of Stockton, England. 

****** 

"We can say, with the eminent thinker, Claude Ber- 
nard, that all things happen as if the body were simply 
made use of by the spirit. In this case we have no reason 
to suppose that the body and the spirit are inseparably 
bound together." — Camille Flammarion. 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 243 

"We may object that generally the faculty of thinking 
seems to depend on the condition of the brain and that, 
like the brain itself, it grows feeble with age. But is it 
not the instrument that grows weaker, the body and not 
the spirit? Very often, among great brain-workers, the 
mind remains sound up to the very last day of life. All 
my contemporaries have known in Paris writers like Victor 
Hugo, Lamartine, Legouve, historians like Thiers, Mignet, 
Henri Martin, scholars like Barthelemy-Saint-Hilaire 
(1805-95), savants like Chevreul (1786-1889), who have 
shown up to a very advanced age the strength and youth 

of their souls." — Camille Flammarion. 

****** 

"In the Central Office of the lower animals there is 
but one operator — Instinct. As we go up in the scale of 
animal development and life becomes more complex we find 
two and three operators — Instinct, Emotion and Intelli- 
gence; and finally in the mind of man there is a fourth 
operator whom we call Spirit. This Spirit has many sub- 
titles. It is called Conscience, Idealism, Inspiration, Love, 
Faith, Altruism ; but to us who call ourselves Christians it 
has a name which is all-inclusive — the Spirit of God in 

man, the Christ Spirit." 

****** 

"Where the highest Spirit rules, working harmon- 
iously through intelligence, emotion and instinct and mak- 
ing each do its full part, then, and then only, do we attain 

to fullness of life and joy and power." 

****** 

' ' In all the Bible nothing is more clear, more wonder- 
ful, than the assurance that this very Spirit of God which 
was perfectly manifest in Christ, is also within us, ready 
and waiting to take control of our lives and to manifest 
itself through us in wisdom and in power, in love, and in 
peace of body and mind. The Old Testament teaches it 
over and over again." — From "Spirit," by E. P. H. S., 
a little book commended by the famous Dr. Richard C. 

Cabot. 

****** 

"And now comes modern physical science reducing 
matter to a tenuousness only one remove from the purely 



244 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 

spiritual, if it is as much as that. Gone is the mass of the 
mountains, the stoniness of rocks, the hard solidity of iron. 
*****Keeping strictly to the material, modern science has 
reached the confines of materiality. Where it will lead us 
next no man knows. But, the inference is not unfair that 
the world of matter is to a considerable degree, and per- 
haps altogether, a world of man's own creation. That is 
to say, while God is doing one thing with it, the human 
mind understands another." 

"I speak only for myself when I say that the more I 

feel round me the atmosphere of omnipotence the less I am 

aware of fear." 

****** 

"The weakness of the ecclesiastical system strikes me 
as lying in the assumption, or practical assumption, on the 
part of each sect that IT is the sole repository of truth, 
and of all the truth. There is no sect which does not claim 
more than all mankind can claim. Moreover, there is no 
sect which does not make its claims exclusively, asserting 
not only that these claims are right, but that all other 
claims are wrong. To the best of my knowledge, the sect 
has not yet risen which would make more than shadowy 
concessions to any other sect." — From "The Conquest of 
Fear," by Basil King, former rector in the Protestant 
Episcopal Church and now a well-known novelist. 



THE FIRST SHALL BE LAST 



Some lines from a poet who believes that Saint Peter 
will be rather severe on the creedalists. 



At the risk of being thought "out of order" by some 
I venture to print a poem that will appeal, I am sure, to 
all of my readers with any sense of humor, and any appreci- 
ation of the difficulties confronting hypocrisy when placed 
on trial. The poem, or the quoting of it by me, may seem 
flippant to some, and yet always and everywhere "A little 
nonsense now and then is relished by the best of men." 

St. Peter stood at the golden gate, 
With, a solemn mien and an air sedate, 
When up to the top of the golden stair 
A man and woman ascending there, 
Applied for admission. They came and stood 
Before St. Peter, bo great and good, 
In hopes thet City of Peace to win, 
And asked St. Peter to let them in. 

The woman was tall, and lank, and thin, 
With a scraggy beardlet upon her chin. 
The man was short, and thick and stout, 
His stomach was built so it rounded out, 
Hisi face was pleasant and all the while 
He wore a kindly and genial smile. 
The choirs in the distance the echoes woke, 
And the man kept still while the woman spoke. 

"Oh, thou who guards the gate," said she, 

"We two come hither beseeching thee 

To let us enter the heavenly land 

And play our harps with the angel band. 

Of me, St. Peter, there is no doubt. 

There's nothing from heaven to bar me out; 

I've been to meetings three times a week, 

And almost always I'd rise and speak. 

245 



246 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 



"I've told the sinners about the day 
When they'd repent of their evil way; 
I've told my neighbors — I've told them all 
'Bout Adam and Eve, and the Primal Fall, 
I've shown them what they'd have to do 
If they'd pass in with the chosen few; 

I've marked their path of duty clear 

Laid out the plan for their whole career. 

"I've talked and talked to 'em loud and long, 

For my lungs are good, and my voice is strong. 

So, Good St. Peter, you'll clearly see 

The gate of heaven is open for me; 

But my old man, I regret to say, 

Hasn't walked in exactly the narrow way. 

He smokes and he swears, and grave faults he's got, 

And I don't know whether he'll pass or 1 not. 

"He would never pray with an earnest vim, 

Or go to revival, or join in a hymn, 

So I had to leave him in sorrow there 

While I, the chosen, united in prayer. 

He ate what the pantry chanced to afford, 

While I, in my purity, sang to the Lord; 

And if cucumbers were all he got, 

It's a chance if he merited them or not. 

"But O, St. Peter, I love him so, 
To the pleasures of heaven please let him go! 
I've done enough, a saint I've been, 
Won't that atone? Can't you let him inf 
By my grim gospel I know 'tis so , 

That the unrepentant must fry below, 
But isn't there some way you can see 
That he may enter, who's dear to me? 

"It's a narrow gospel by which I pray, 

But the Chosen expect to find some way 

Of coaxing, or fooling, or bribing you, 

So their relations can amble through; 

And say, St. Peter, it seems to me 

This gate isn't kept as it ought to be. 

You ought to stand down by the opening there, 

And never sit down in that easy chair. 

"And say, St. Peter, my sight is dimmed, 

But I don't like the way your whiskers are trimmed. 

They're cut too wide, and outward toss, 

They'd look better narrow, cut straight across. 

Well, we must be going our crowns to win, 

So, open, St. Peter, and we'll pass in!" 



NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LIVE 247 



St. Peter sat quiet and stroked his staff, 
But, spite of his office, he had to laugh. 
Then said, with a fiery gleam in his eye: 
"Who's tending this gateway — you or I?" 
And then he arose, in his stature tall, 
And pressed a button upon the wall, 
And then to the imp who answered the bell, 
"Escort this lady around to hell!" 

The man stood still as a piece of stone 

Stood sadly, gloomily there alone. 

A life-long, settled idea he had 

That his wife was good and he was bad; 

He thought if the woman went down below 

That he would certainly have to go; 

That if she went to the regions dim, 

There wasn't a ghost of a show 1 for him. 

Slowly he turned, by habit bent, 
To follow wherever the woman went. 
St. Peter, standing on duty there, 
Observed that the top of his head was bare. 
He called the gentleman back and said: 
"Friend, how long have you been wed?" 
"Thirty years" (with a weary sigh), 
And then he thoughtfully added, "Why?" 

St. Peter was silent. With head bent down 
He raised his hand and scratched hiss crown, 
Then, seeming a different thought to take, 
Slowly, half to himself, he spake: 
"Thirty years with that woman there? 
No wonder the man hasn't got any hair! 
Swearing is wicked; smoke's not good, 
He smoked and he swore — I should think he would. 

"Thirty years with that tongue so sharp? 
Oh! Angel Gabriel! give him a harp! 
A jeweled harp with a golden string! 
Good sir, pass in where the angels sing! 
Gabriel, give him a seat alone — •■ — 
One with a cushion — up near the throne! 
Call up some angels to play their best! 
Let him enjoy the music — and rest! 

"See that on the finest Ambrosia he feeds; 
He has had about all the hell he needs. 

It isn't just the thing to do 

To roast him on earth and the future too ! ' ' 



248 NO, NOT DEAD; THEY LITE 



They gave him. a harp with golden strings, 
A glittering robe and a pair of wings, 
And he said, as he entered the realm of ay: 
' ' Well, this beats cucumbers, anyway ! ' ' 

And so the scriptures had come to pass 

"The last shall be first, and the first shall be last." 

— Joseph Bert Smiley. 



Index 



Accident 95-96 

Adler, Dr. Felix 241 

Akasoff 240 

Alimentary 14 

American Chemical Society. 235 
American Psychical Institute 190 

Amoeba 112 

Anaesthesia 72 

Anatomical names 5 

Anderson's Cannery 3 

Angels 164-182 

Animal 109 

Animism 175 

Apparitions 178 

Arteries 17 

Astral sight 125 

Atheism 39 

Atom 59 

Attraction 61 

Aura 226-193 

Automatic cells 103 

Automatisms 179 

Automatic self 75 

Auto-suggestion 74 

Babson, Roger W 146-239 

Bailey (Dr.) v. Kilner (Dr.) 195 

Balfour, Gerald W 241 

Barrett, Professor 241 

Belshazzar 151 

Beneficent purpose 144 

Bereavement 153 

Bergson, Henri 240 

Bible 134 

Bile 15 

Blackburn, Charles 203 

Bladder 13 

Blood 16-33 

Blood corpuscle 33 

Brain, central office 24 

Brain, size 23 

British Society for Psychical 

Research 91 

Butterfly 197 



Cabot, Doctor 243 

Camden Daily Courier 221 

Capillaries 42 

Carpenter, Doctor 102 

Carrington, Hereward . . . .90-190 

Cartilage 9 

Cassia Metitans 112 

Catalepsy 98 

Catholic Church 134 

Cell 33-45 

Central sun 128 

Cerebellum 19-41 

Cerebral hemispheres 20 

Cerebrum, or brain 20 

Character 148-155 

Christianity 148 

Church, Harvey 110 

Circle 224 

Clairaudience 178 

Clairvoyance 78-166 

Clergy 143-158 

Colley, Archdeacon 242 

Common sponge 112 

Concentration 88-101 

Conception 64 

Conduct 155 

Congenial souls 129 

Consciousness 35-63-64 

Consolation 138 

Contemplative 128 

Contented or happy 144 

Control 214 

Con well, Reverend Doctor . . 184 

Cook, Miss 199 

Cook County, HI 110 

Coral formations 114 

Corpora quadrigemina 25 

Corpora striata 102-48 

Crawford, Doctor 217 

Creeds 132 

Crookes, Sir William 91-145 

198-241 

Cuentot 221 

Cynics 152 



249 



250 



INDEX 



Dark room 140 

Darkness 92 

Degraded 106 

Denominations 134 

Design and law 144 

Development 126 

Devil 106 

Digested food 15 

Dimension 61 

Discarnate spirits 100 

Disembodied 64 

Dispensation 159 

Dissection 3 

Dividing line 114 

Doctrine 157 

Dog 196 

Dogs have a sixth sense . . . 196 

Doyle, Doctor 145 

Dreams 166 

Drums 28 

Eagles 82 

Ear 28 

Earthbound spirits 106 

Ecclesiastical system 157 

Ecstasy 98 

Edison, Thomas A 219 

Electricity 59 

Electron 58 

Elks 82 

Embodiment 35 

Embryonic period 140 

Emerson, Ralph Waldo- 137 

Energy 60 

Enhancement 101 

Epiglottis 27 

Esslinger, Jim 118 

Eternity 51 

Ether 61 

Etheric sigature 213 

Ethical Culture Movement . . 241 

Evil 156 

Evil spirits 107 

Expiatory element 214 

Expression 68 

Eye 48 

Eyeball 29 

Paber, Father 146 

Faith made sight 148 

Faith without works 150 



Faking , . . . 117 

Falx cerebri 40 

Fascial 10 

Fats 10 

Fearfully made 42 

Fetishism 175 

Financial authority 211 

Finite mind 56 

Fire, walking on 117-186 

First shall be last 245 

Flammarion, Camille 242-243 

Flewelling, Ralph Tyler 238 

Flexuous and flexible 9 

Fly 197 

Fly trap 112 

Foetal consciousness 49 

Foot 6 

Forearm 6 

Fourth dimension 62 

Function 64 

Funk, Reverend Doctor .... 97 

Gall bladder , 12 

Ganglia 21 

Geley, Doctor 217 

Generate lif e 45 

Gernsbaek, H 207 

Ghosts, weighing 217 

Gladstone, Hon. W. E 241 

God is Good 152 

God is Love 159 

Gravitate 107 

Gravitation 61 

Grief 138 

Gyel, Dr. E 240 

Haeckel, Professor 44 

Halo 195 

Healing 180 

Healing, mental 181 

Heart 16 

Hebrew children 186 

Hell-fire and brimstone .... 134 

Hindu adepts 117 

Holy Ghost, sin against. .109-110 

Home, D. D 92 

Home 117 

Homeland 121-127 

Hoosier poet 188 

Human frame 235 

Human ingenuity 37 



INDEX 



251 



Huxley, Professor 145 

Hyoid bone 7 

Hypnotism 72 

Hyslop, Dr 175 

Idea 63 

Immortal 55 

immortality 105-147-167 

Imposture 138 

Individuality 66-124 

Induced 114 

Inertia 60 

Infant damnation 134 

Infinite 63 

Ingersoll, Colonel 159 

Innominate bones 6 

Inspirational work 103 

Intellect 156 

Intelligent designer 56 

Intestine, large 14 

Intestine, small 13 

Iris 29 

James, Professor 241 

Jefferson Medical College . . 2 

lehovah 159 

Jesus Christ 128 

Joan of Arc 99 

Joint, ball and socket 8 

Joint, compound 8 

Joint, compound hinge . 8 

Joint, gliding 8 

Joint, hinge 8 

Jones, Rev 135 

Judge 96 

Kelly, Doctor 193 

Kidneys 12 

King, Basil 244 

King, Katie 198 

Knowledge 145 

Lang, Andrew 241 

Lapponi, Doctor 206 

Larynx 27-96 

Law 151 

Law and order 46 

Law of association 131 

Law of progress 131 

Lecky 181 

Levitation 90 



Life, artificial 67 

Life a blessing 222 

Life function 50 

Life a school 133 

Life principle 66 

Light 87 

Liver 12 

Lodge, Sir Oliver 222-241 

Lombroso 204 

London Financial News . . . 211 

Love unites 130 

Luminif erous ether 66 

Luminous envelope 195 

Luminous hand 93 

Luther, Martin 103 

Lungs 27 

McComb, Eev. Samuel 242 

MeCleery, J. L 160 

Macdonald, George 242 

Magnetic state 34 

Magnetic animal 81 

Magnetism 101 

Malleus bone 29 

Marriage 169 

Marriage tie 129-130 

Materialism 3 

Materialistic thought de- 
clining 221 

Materialists 44-67 

Materialization 94-213 

Matter 45-58 

Mechanical requisites 224 

Mechanical mind 116 

Medical College 132 

Medium 88-89 

Medulla oblongata 20-65 

Mesmerism 73 

Messages 87 

Microscope 141 

Middle class 153 

Mills, Charles H 2 

Milton 135 

Mind 50 

Miracles 39-169-175-177 

Mirror 195 

Mirror galvanometer 190 

Molecular aggregate 47 

Molecules 59-60 

Moral significance 105 

Mother and father 34 



252 



INDEX 



Mouth 13 

Mucous membrane 30 

Muscles 11 

Myers, F. W. H 241 

Natural sleep 119 

Nature has no morals 51 

Nerve-radio activity 76 

Nervous system 22 

Newman, Cardinal 212 

New Testament miracles. . . 80 

New Zealand 115 

Nose 29 

No space 130 

No time 130 

Objective mind 74 

O'Brien, Frederick 186 

(Esophagus 13 

O'Higgins, Harvey 210 

Old-time spiritualist 43 

Omnipotent 56 

Omniscient 56 

Operator 38 

Optic nerve 48 

Optic thalami 48-63 

Optic thalamus 22 

Organs discarded 31 

Oscillograph 191 

Osier, Doctor 239 

Palladino, Eusapia 205 

Pancreas 12 

Pancreatic 15 

Parents 1 

Pathological 75 

Paulsboro 1 

Paul's Epistle 138 

Peace 237 

Pelvis 5 

Penticost 179 

Pericardium 17 

Peritoneum 18 

Personality 35 

Philadelphia 97 

Philosophy 39 

Pia mater 21 

Piper, Mrs 164 

Pittsburgh 96 

Pituitary gland 22 

Planes 120 



Planets 56 

Planets 60 

Pleura 17 

Polarization 61 

Pons varoli 19 

Popular Science Monthly. . . 217 

Portraits 83 

Powell, Ellis Thomas 211 

Predestination 159 

Progress 108 

Presbyterian Hospital 95 

Progressing 219 

Progressive 128 

Proof at home 224 

Prophesy 170 

Prophet 179 

Proton 59 

Psychic force 226 

Psychic phenomena 132 

Psychic powers 133 

Psychic riddle 97 

Purification 105 

Quackenbos, Doctor 74 

Qualities for mediumship. . . 228 

Eadioaction, magnetic 76 

Radiaction, human 82 

Radiance, diffused 215 

Recognition 215 

Rectum 14 

Reducing an absurdity 45 

Reforming mankind 155 

Religions 132 

Replica 54 

Repulsion 61 

Respiration 28 

Resurrection 154 

Retribution 170 

Ribs 5-9 

Ridley, Hazel Hurd 95 

Right spirits 225 

Right thoughts 225 

Riley, James Whitcomb 188 

Rock of ages 156 

Roman Catholic doctrine ... 137 
Ruskin, John 241 

Saliva 14 

Salvation 108 

Satellites 60 



INDEX 



253 



Scapula 6 

Sehrenck-Notzing 100 

Scientific men 239 

Scriptures 164 

Seance 87 

Sensations 49-63 

Sense of feeling 30 

Senses 51-196 

Sensory 178 

Sensory ganglia 48 

Sensual body 105 

Seven spheres of probation 69 

Sewerage system 40 

Seybert Commission 91 

Sidgwick, Professor 241 

Silvery-appearing thread . . . 119 

Skepticism 43 

Skeptics 152 

Skin 9 

Skull 5-10 

Sleep 207 

Smallest thing 58-231 

Somnambulism 80 

Soul 51-54-65 

Soul not sexed 34 

Soul with soul 130 

Soul 's character 105 

South Sea Islands 117-186 

Space 58-61 

Spheres 120 

Spinal cord 19 

Spirit 51-54-65 

Spirit manifestations 124 

Spirit photographs 100-191 

Spirit, playful 188 

Spirit sphere 120 

Spirits 170 

Spirits, evil 85 

Spirits, weighing 190 

Spiritual 109 

Spiritual waves 68 

Spiritualism 89 

Spirit destroys Christianity. 139 
Spiritualism v. Materialism. 47 

Spleen 12 

Stomach 14-13 

Subconscious mind ...64-207-210 

Subjective mind 74 

Subliminal mind 65 

Suggestion 73 

Summerland 124 



Suns 60 

Suspended consciousness . . . 101 

Swedenborg 99-137 

Switchboard 39 

Table 87-90 

Telegraph, Morse 87 

Telekinesis 86-89 

Telepathy 77-84 

Thalami 64 

Thigh bone 6 

Thought waves 69 

Thread like nerves 49 

Tongue 29 

Trachea 27 

TTance 96-98 

Trance consciousness 102 

Transfiguration 100-177 

Transliminal 65 

Transmission of the will .... 80 

Transmission of sensations . . 78 

Transmission of the senses. . 80 

Undertaker 188 

Undeveloped 126 

United States Senator 188 

Ungrammatical language . . 139 

Unquestionable witness .... 198 

Unseen hands 90 

Universes 60-128 

Ureters 13 

Use of the soul 151 

Vegetable act 49 

Vegetable caterpillar 115 

Vegetable consciousness ... 48 

Vegetable state Ill 

Veins 17 

Ventilating system 39 

Ventricles 25 

Ventriloquism 96 

Vertebral column 5 

Vibration 70 

Vibration detector 191 

Visible 227 

Visions 172 

Visual organs 141 

Vocal cords 27 

Voices 173 

Void 62 

Volometer 191 



254 INDEX 

Walking on fire 117-186 Wireless telephony 141 

Wesley, John 103 Wisdom 175 

Wife 184 Yeast plant 112 

Will 68 

Wireless telegraphy 141 Zither 90 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper proce; 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: Nov. 2004 

PreservationTechnologic 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATK 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



